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I won’t pretend to understand what it is that makes true crime so fascinating. To be honest, we should probably be a little concerned about the way that the true crime genre has spread like wildfire, prompting TV, movies, and podcasts about all the worst, most fascinating crimes ever recorded. But there’s no time to wonder why we love these true tales of murder and madness when new true crime movies are popping up every day and demanding our attention, from Casting JonBenet to kidnapping horror story Abducted in Plain Sight and Ridley Scott’s new drama about the Gucci family murder: House of Gucci, streaming now on Amazon Prime Video.
One note about these true crime faves? Make sure your kiddos are in bed and asleep (really asleep) before you click on the evening’s entertainment. Unlike our favorite horror movies, even the scariest of which can be explained away as “all pretend,” these true crime stories may be harder to brush off. On the other hand, if you have a teen or pre-teen, you do have some options for true crime with softened edges — otherwise known as the Hollywood dramatization. Movies like Lost Girls, Spotlight, and Room all tell stories of very real crimes in very real ways, but the familiar narrative style (and familiar actors) can make subjects more palatable than they may have been through documentary footage.
I’ll say the obvious: at this point in time, we have plenty of things to be scared of without Netflix’s help. But for whatever reason, that hasn’t made these true crime movies one ounce less fun as we binge our way through this never-ending pandemic. Here are true crime movies, both documentaries and biopics, that we guarantee will capture your attention.
A version of this article was originally published on July 2020.
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‘Boston Strangler’
Image Credit: © Warner Bros. / Courtesy Everett Collection. Keira Knightley stars as Loretta McLaughlin, the woman who first broke the story of the Boston Strangler. Inspired by the true events, her character tries to track down the killer while fighting the sexist work environment in the 1960s in the new Hulu movie released on March 17.
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‘House of Gucci’
Image Credit: ©MGM/Courtesy Everett Collection. Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci starring Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Jared Leto, Salma Hayek, and Al Pacino tells the true story of Patrizia Reggiani, who married into the Gucci family and then arranged for her husband Maurizio to be killed after he left her. She was ultimately sentenced to 29 years in prison.
Watch here.
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‘Abducted in Plain Sight’
Image Credit: Netflix. In the early 70s, 12-year-old Jan Broberg was abducted from her small church-going community in Idaho. Abducted in Plain Sight tells the story of how the young girl was kidnapped not once, but twice, by a trusted neighbor and close family friend.
Watch here.
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‘Casting JonBenet’
Image Credit: Netflix. After twenty years of media speculation and public hysteria that JonBenét’s parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, were responsible for the killing of the young beauty queen, Casting JonBenét explores the unsolved murder of the 6-year-old through fiction and non-fiction filmmaking.
Watch here.
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‘Amanda Knox’
Image Credit: Netflix. Either a cold-blooded psychopath who brutally murdered her roommate or a naive student abroad trapped in an endless nightmare — this documentary explores the notorious case of Amanda Knox who was convicted and eventually acquitted for the 2007 death of student in Italy.
Watch here.
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‘Foxcatcher’
Image Credit: Sony Pictures Classics. This eerie drama starring Steve Carell, Channing Tatum, and Mark Ruffalo tells the story of E.I. du Pont family heir John du Pont, who wants to recruit wrestlers Dave and Mark Schultz for his Olympic wrestling team Foxcatcher. While they both wrestle for him for a time, his relationship with Mark quickly grows complicated by du Pont’s power dynamic, drugs, and emotional manipulation.
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‘I Love You, Now Die’
Image Credit: HBO. Conrad Henri Roy III died by suicide at the age of 18 and his friend, then 17-year-old Michelle Carter was accused of encouraging him via text messages and was charged with involuntary manslaughter. The HBO series I Love You, Now Die: The Commonwealth v. Michelle Carter explores the notable investigation known as the “texting suicide case”.
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‘Remastered: The Two Killings of Sam Cooke’
Image Credit: Netflix. Netflix’s documentary on artist Sam Cookie’s murder takes a closer look at what led to his shooting by Bertha Franklin in 1964. The 33-year-old singer’s death has long been a mystery these interviews hope to shed light on.
Watch here.
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‘Spotlight’
Image Credit: Open Road Films. Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Michael Keaton, and more A-list talent star in this drama based on the investigative reporting of the Boston Globe’s “Spotlight” team, which led to them uncovering widespread sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests in the Boston area.
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‘Sergio’
Image Credit: Netflix/ Karima Shehata. Inspired by a true story, Sergio is set in the aftermath of the US invasion of Iraq and follows the life of top UN diplomat Sergio Vieira de Mello as he takes on one last assignment in Baghdad pushing his physical and emotional limits.
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‘Long Shot’
Image Credit: Netflix. An innocent man is accused of murder, leading his determined attorney on a wild chase to confirm his alibi among thousands of people in a baseball stadium.
Watch here.
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‘Lost Girls’
Image Credit: Netflix. This mystery movie is based on the actions of the Long Island serial killer, who killed up to 16 victims between 1996 and 2010 and has never been identified. As a woman searches for her missing daughter, she uncovers the series of murders of sex workers on the South Shore barrier islands of Long Island, and investigates further.
Watch here.
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‘Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father’
Image Credit: Oscilloscope Laboratories. Andrew Bagby grew up with filmmaker Kurt Kuenne, who decides to make a film for Bagby’s son Zachary after his mysterious death. Bagby was found dead shortly after ending a relationship with Shirley Jane Turner, who was later jailed for Bagby’s death. Kuenne interviews those close to him and those involved in the case to paint a picture of the father his son would never know.
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‘The Fear of 13’
Image Credit: Dogwoof Pictures. After being sentenced to death in Pennsylvania in the early 80s and serving over 20 years in prison (much of which was spent in solitary confinement) Nick Yarris petitioned the court demanding his DNA be tested to prove his innocence — he was one of the state’s first death row inmates to demand post-conviction DNA testing. In 2003 DNA testing of the crime scene excluded him as the perpetrator and he was released in 2004.
Nick Yarris began working with film director David Sington on Fear of 13 to tell his story.
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‘Strong Island’
Image Credit: Netflix. In April 1992, on Long Island NY, William Ford Jr., a black 24-year-old teacher was killed by Mark Reilly, a white 19-year-old mechanic, yet Ford became the prime suspect in his own murder. Director Yance Ford chronicles the arc of his family across history, geography, and tragedy — from the racial segregation of the Jim Crow South to the promise of New York City.
Watch here.
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‘Monster’
Image Credit: Newmarket Films. In what might be Charlize Theron’s best performance ever, she takes on the role of serial killer Aileen Wuornos, a former prostitute who starts killing her male clients. In this dramatized version of events, Wuornos is endlessly devoted to girlfriend Selby Wall (Christina Ricci) but unable to curb her worst impulses.
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‘The Thin Blue Line’
Image Credit: Miramax Films. Randall Dale Adams was arrested for the murder of Texas police officer Robert Wood. During his trial, he was testified against by a Dr. James Grigson, who had a pattern of suggesting defendants were likely to reoffend. Errol Morris stumbled on Adams’ case while researching Grigson — and wound up uncovering key new details about the case.
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‘Tickled’
Image Credit: Magnolia Pictures. New Zealand journalist David Farrier gets much more than he bargained for when he dives into the world of “competitive endurance tickling” videos online. After encountering the hostile Jane O’Brien Media company behind it, he investigates deeper into this secretive world.
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‘The Central Park Five’
Image Credit: Sundance Selects. When five Black teenage boys are arrested for the assault, rape, and sodomy of a female jogger in 1989, they become known as the “Central Park Five.” 12 years later, serial rapist Matias Reyes confesses to having committed the crime alone. This documentary takes a look at how this miscarriage of injustice took place and urges the city of New York to settle their lawsuit with the Central Park Five.
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‘The Imposter’
Image Credit: Picturehouse Entertainment. In 1994, a 13-year-old boy in Texas named Nicholas Barclay disappeared. In 1997, the con man Frédéric Bourdin, then 23, told the Barclay family he was their missing son — and despite his completely different appearance, age difference, and French accent, it took years for his plot to be uncovered.
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‘The Inventor: Out For Blood in Silicon Valley’
Image Credit: Courtesy of HBO. Elizabeth Holmes launched Theranos in 2003, a company she claimed would pioneer a revolutionary new method of blood testing. The vision: an “Edison,” a mini, immediate blood-testing kit, in every home. The only problem? Holmes had never made the breakthroughs she claimed to. Millions of dollars in investments later, it became clear that her goal had never been remotely possible.
Watch here.
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‘Room’
Image Credit: A24. Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay star in this drama based on the real 2008 case of Elisabeth Fritzl, who was held captive by her father in their basement for 24 years, repeatedly raped and forced to bear his children, some of whom remained in captivity with her.
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‘In Cold Blood’
Image Credit: Columbia Pictures. Based on Truman Capote’s non-fiction work In Cold Blood, this 1967 movie tells the story of the Herbert Clutter family murders in Kansas, for which Richard Hickock and Perry Smith were ultimately arrested. The movie tells the story from the killer’s point of view.
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