The Best True Crime Shows on Netflix Right Now

Directed by: Domini Hofmann

Let’s face it: we’ve all likely had less-than-desirable roommates. It is not always easy to share space with someone, whether they have been messy or loud, eaten your food from the refrigerator, or failed to pay their share of the rent on time. But (hopefully!) you’ve never had an experience quite as terrible as those in this documentary. This series is a shocking and suspenseful look at situations involving roommates that turned criminal or fatal. I devoured it as quickly as I could. – T. Gates

This true-crime miniseries chronicles the life of John Gotti, focusing on both his and the FBI’s perspectives of the infamous case against him that resulted in his conviction in 1992. Gotti was a real-life gangster with high-end criminal connections who was shrouded in mystery. This story delves deeply into the crimes themselves, as well as the dangerously alluring lifestyle. In addition to focusing on the details of Gotti’s life, the series investigates the allure of 1980s New York’s criminal underworld. Get Gotti is both chilling in its depiction of reality and enthralling in its narrative. Jacob Hodges

Creator: Julia Willoughby Nason & Jenner Furst

This is an age-old tale. The affluent youth in town gets into trouble, but nothing happens as a result of his family’s influence. This cliche is taken to a whole new level by the Murdaugh family of South Carolina. Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal on Netflix describes a tragic boat accident that resulted in the death of popular adolescent Mallory Beach, as well as the fact that the drunk and abusive driver, Paul Murdaugh, did not face criminal charges. Suddenly, this one-of-a-kind catastrophe becomes entangled in a web of deceit and wrongdoing, all of which is orchestrated by Alex Murdaugh, the sociopathic patriarch of his family.

Executive Producers: David Ginsberg, Jake Laufer, Jonas Bell Pasht, Peter Dinklage, Jonah Bekhor

The creative team behind the docuseries How to Become a Tyrant brings back the dulcet narration talents of Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones) to examine the tenets of cult formation and deconstruct the playbook for how people are drawn to charismatic leaders. How to Become a Cult Leader is a six-episode series that analyzes cults such as the Manson Family, Peoples Temple, and Heaven’s Gate (to name a few) and dissects the factors that contribute to mind control. Using archival footage, interviews with former members and experts, and animated segments, the docuseries vividly depicts the entire procedure.

Cast: Charles Coffey, John Ingram, Jim McIntyre

Catching Killers offers a unique perspective on true crime by providing an in-depth look at the investigators involved in solving actual homicide cases. Using interviews with a variety of individuals directly involved in infamous murders, Catching Killers revisits the crimes and examines efforts to combat evil, including the realities of modern advancements in forensic science that have enabled detectives to discover new, irrefutable evidence. Catching Killers is a suspenseful series that relies on chilling facts and dramatic truths to assist the police in solving some of the most gruesome homicides in history.

Creator: Floyd Russ

Cast: William B. Evans, Rick Deslauriers, Phillip Martin

American Manhunt: The Boston Marathon Bombing revisits the chilling events that occurred on Patriot’s Day in 2013 ten years after the horrendous tragedy. American Manhunt: The Boston Marathon Bombing features exclusive interviews with William B. Evans, Superintendent of the Boston Police Department, Rick Deslauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI, and Investigative Reporter Phillip Martin, among others, in which they reveal new information that sheds light on the shocking terrorist attack. American Manhunt: The Boston Marathon Bombing presents archival footage and eerie reenactments directed by Floyd Russ over the course of three in-depth episodes, resulting in a genuinely captivating documentary series. However, Yael Tygiel

Cast: Will Hanrahan, Tony Kent, Jane Monckton-Smith, Roberta Babb

My Lover, My Killer is a British crime series narrated by executive producer Will Hanrahan that examines horrifying real-life cases involving victims murdered by their obsessed companions. Each episode of the terrifying true crime documentary series My Lover, My Killer focuses on a distinct heartbreaking tale, with six episodes in the first season and ten episodes in the second. My Lover, My Killer includes testimonies from friends and family members of the victims, as well as footage from their lives and interviews with specialists such as criminologist Jane Monckton-Smith and psychologist Tony Kent. However, Yael Tygiel

Creator: Skye Borgman

I Just Killed My Dad examines the unusual and true story of Anthony Templet, who confessed to killing his own father. I Just Killed My Dad explores Templet’s personal history leading up to the heinous crime and the devastating consequences of his actions over the course of three episodes. The documentary series, directed by Skye Borgman (Abducted in Plain Sight), devotes considerable time to contemplating the profound implications of Templet’s mental health. I Just Killed My Dad emphasizes interviews with his mother (Teresa Thompson) and step-brother, as well as investigators and legal experts, to examine the riveting event from all angles. However, Yael Tygiel

Created by: Nanette Burstein

Killy Sally is a gritty and riveting investigation into the life of former bodybuilder Sally McNeil, who was accused of murdering her abusive spouse, the famous bodybuilder Ray McNeil. Killer Sally allows McNeil, her children, and her friends to spend hours recounting memories and revealing secrets as they discuss the brutal realities of domestic violence across three somber episodes. Killer Sally examines the truth of the bodybuilding couple’s time together and the legal system’s outmoded treatment of McNeil’s tragic story, beginning with their first meeting and continuing through their marriage. Killer Sally is a tragic but strange true story that sheds new light on an ancient case. However, Yael Tygiel

Directed by: Miles Blaydon-Ryall

First, actual crimes were committed, then Emma Watson (Beauty and the Beast) starred in a high-budget Hollywood film about the crimes, and now Netflix has the real criminal masterminds divulging the truth about what happened. The Real Bling Ring: Hollywood Heist investigates the privileged gang that robbed the wealthiest residences in Los Angeles in the early 2000s, including those of early-2000s royalty Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan (Mean Girls). The Real Bling Ring: Hollywood Heist is a three-part documentary featuring interviews with the heist’s perpetrators, Perez Hilton, and a number of high-profile victims. However, Yael Tygiel

Directed by: Rob Miller

This series features true-crime stories with a digital spin. Most Hated Man on the Internet examines Hunter Moore, the man behind the infamous website IsAnyoneUp.com, who has been one of the most significant enablers of revenge porn over the past several years. His self-description as a “professional life-ruiner” tells you everything you need to know. Seeing the determined mother Charlotte Laws seek justice for her daughter and Moore’s other victims is not only gratifying but also empowering. Taylor Gates –

Directed by: Chris Smith

Bad Vegan is a frustrating and enlightening documentary that follows the tale of Sarma Meingailis, a trendy vegan restaurant owner in New York City. The couple, who were arrested in 2016 over a Domino’s Pizza order along with her spouse Anthony Strangis, is a classic example of coercive control. From documentaries such as The Tinder Swindler to the film Dirty John, the concept of coercive control is depicted as being extremely insidious. In this instance, Anthony exploited not only Sarma for her money, but also her mother and her employees. Anthony demonstrates how manipulative and controlling he could be by deceiving her into believing he needed the money for a secret society that worshipped an enigmatic deity in order to attain immortality. By establishing fake identities, stalking Sarma, and impersonating her, he had a firm grip on her life until their arrest. Those interested in a brief, four-part documentary series about an extraordinary story need look no further. This is Therese Lacson

Directed by: Tiller Russell and James Carroll

In the 1980s, Richard Ramirez terrorized California. As one of the most heinous killers in American history, by the time Ramirez was apprehended, the public mob that recognized his visage had already beaten him. The documentary series oscillates between the gruesome details of the crimes and the sensationalism associated with serial killers, but it is a comprehensive portrait of a genuine monster. The filmmakers examined both the criminal and the police officers who were pursuing him, specifically detectives Gil Carrillo and Frank Salerno. Even those familiar with Ramirez’s reign of terror can learn something new from Night Stalker, despite the fact that he is one of the most notorious murderers. This is Therese Lacson

Unsolved Mysteries, a reboot of the long-running series devised by John Cosgrove and Terry Dunn Meurer, is an unconventional true crime series. The original series was well-known for its blend of closed cases and supernatural cases. The previous seasons were narrated by Robert Stack, but the new iteration takes a less narrative approach, resulting in episodic documentaries of varying style and substance. In addition to examining serial murderers and long-standing unsolved cases, the episodes examine international events. Even investigations of dead cases were reopened as a result of the series’ popularity. If you are not interested in watching a lengthy documentary, this is the one for you. This is Therese Lacson

Directed by: Joe Berlinger

While at times absurd, Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel provides a definitive solution to the story of what happened to Elisa Lam. Few followers of true crime will be unfamiliar with the Elisa Lam mystery. For those unfamiliar with the narrative or bloody history of the Cecil Hotel, this documentary is fairly exhaustive in its coverage of the hotel’s past. The hotel is located in Los Angeles’ Skid Row, a notorious resting place for criminals and serial murderers, such as Richard Ramirez. Crime Scene is quite informative for those who are unfamiliar with the subject matter, but it does not shrink away from sensationalism or dubious reenactments. Still, Elisa’s tale has been of interest for years, with some skeptics believing that her death may be connected to the paranormal. Crime Scene reveals that the actuality is much tragic. This is Therese Lacson

Directed by: Jesse Vile and Ellena Wood

What may sound like a documentary about a London serial murderer in the 19th century is actually about a prolific killer who attacked women in West Yorkshire and Manchester in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The case is horrifying, as anticipated, but the most interesting aspect of The Ripper is how it investigates and criticizes police practices and public responses. While the identity of the murderer is revealed and he is not ignored, the documentary focuses more on the public’s reaction during the height of the Yorkshire Ripper attacks. At a time when victim shaming and slut-shaming were at their peak, women were advised to stay at home and travel in groups, despite the fact that the police assumed The Ripper was a male. This exasperating and compelling British true crime documentary should be next on your list, but it will leave you furious with the world. This is Therese Lacson

Directed by: Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin

Each episode of the seven-part documentary series Tiger King is progressively crazier than the previous one, to the point where you may find yourself uttering multiple times, “Well, I guess things can’t get any stranger than this.” You are completely incorrect. Tiger King chronicles the exploits of Joe Exotic, the flamboyant and supremely self-assured proprietor of a private Oklahoma big cat zoo. The story of Joe Exotic involves lies, firearms, a bid for the presidency of the United States, and a murder-for-hire conspiracy. This must be witnessed to be believed. – A. Chitwood Adam

Directed by: Brian Knappenberger

Okay, it must be stated up front that The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez is not an easy film to witness. Each episode begins with a disclaimer stating, “This program contains disturbing images and dialogue related to child abuse that may be upsetting to some viewers.” The disclaimer appears on-screen for a full twenty seconds, and I still find it to be somewhat understated. The things you see and hear will definitely disturb you, but nothing feels exploitative. Gabriel Fernandez, an 8-year-old child, was systematically tortured and beaten to death by his mother and her boyfriend over the course of eight months, as detailed in the limited documentary series. In an unprecedented move, the district attorney of Los Angeles decided to prosecute not only Gabriel’s mother and her boyfriend, but also the four social workers assigned to Gabriel’s case who ignored and minimized the obvious indications of his abuse up until the time of his death. It is a grueling documentary, but one that is vitally important because it exposes all the faults in the government systems designed to protect children from the horrific violence and cruelty committed against Gabriel. It is not a series you should watch right before bed, but it is one that you must watch. – Thomas Reimann

Directed by: Ryan White

The Keepers on Netflix appeared to be in the same vein as numerous other watercooler true crime series at first glance. The program vowed to investigate the 1969 disappearance and murder of Sister Cathy Cesnik, including the circumstances, numerous suspects, and other pertinent details. Soon, it becomes apparent that Cesnik may have unearthed horrific sexual abuse at the all-girls Archbishop Keough High School. Women specifically alleged that two priests at the school, most notably Father Joseph Maskell, forced female students to perform sex acts on him and others. The theory held that Sister Cathy was intent to expose the abuse and put an end to it, and was consequently murdered to silence her.

Abuse has long-lasting, detrimental effects on the victim, and The Keepers demonstrates this in a striking, upsetting, and essential manner. How can we expect to prevent this type of abuse in the future if we dismiss it as “not our problem” or something that is best dealt with in private? No longer are these victims shamed as liars or silenced with threats; The Keepers gives them the space to tell their story, and as intriguing as Sister Cathy’s murder mystery is, it is merely an entry point to an emotional and poignant story that ultimately portrays Sister Cathy as a hero who died doing the right thing. — Chitwood, Adam

Directed by: Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos

Making a Murderer is a near-perfect illustration of both the advantages and disadvantages of the true-crime genre. This is the kind of too-crazy-to-be-true story that makes you slam the Next Episode button because the facts don’t make sense. The Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos-written and -directed documentary series tells the tale of Steven Avery, a Wisconsin man who was wrongfully convicted of murder and served 18 years in prison. Several years after his release, he was accused with the separate murder of Teresa Halbach in a case rife with controversy, suspicious layers, and the improbable participation of Avery’s 16-year-old nephew, Brendan Dassey. (Both Avery and Dassey remain incarcerated.) The footage of Dassey’s coerced confession is particularly heartbreaking. However, the film has been criticized for not presenting all the facts and for what appears to be a slightly biased viewpoint from the filmmakers. True crime will always present a case, and Making a Murderer makes a compelling case for an innocent man’s wrongful conviction. The risk is misunderstanding the most compelling argument for the only one worth listening to. -Vincent Mancuso

Directed by: Jean-Xavier de Lestrade

Extremely gut-wrenching, nerve-wracking, and intricate — so much so that Jean-Xavier de Lestrade and the other filmmakers of The Staircase, originally a 2004 10-episode miniseries aired on French TV station Canal+, returned to the subject in 2012 and produced three more episodes. All thirteen episodes are available on Netflix and provide a broad yet detailed overview of the American judicial system, systemic homophobia, the lies we tell ourselves, the masks we wear, the limits of our empathy, and the wild hoops we’ll leap through to avoid bitter truths. The central issue of The Staircase is whether the author Michael Peterson murdered his wife Kathleen Peterson by beating her until she fell down the stairs. Or did Kathleen collapse because of an accident that Peterson was not present to witness? The movements of De Lestrade’s exacting gaze are precise, yielding frustratingly intriguing ambiguity as a result. Your impressions of Mr. Peterson will change with every word he says, and your impressions of the oddball attorneys involved will cast a shadow on how you view future courtroom cases. Get some ginger ale before watching The Staircase; the film’s numerous curves may give you a stomachache. – G. Lawrence Gregory

Directed by: Maclain Way and Chapman Way

If you’ve played Far Cry 5 and encountered the Eden’s Gate cult led by the charismatic Seed family, you have a decent notion of what Wild Wild Country is about. This documentary series from producers Mark and Jay Duplass and directors Maclain and Chapman Way chronicles the 1980s migration to northern Oregon of followers of the Indian guru “Osho” (also known as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh). What began as a retreat for the controversial, wild-eyed leader at “The Big Muddy” ranch (later renamed Rajneeshpuram) quickly transformed into a cult-like headquarters for the guru and his adherents. Ma Anand Sheela, Osho’s right-hand woman, defends not only her actions upon meeting and falling in love with the charismatic man, but also everything she’s done in his name over the years in a six-part documentary. As the documentary explores, this included manipulating local zoning regulations to gain a political majority of their fellow Rajneeshees, recruiting homeless people from across the United States to come and settle in their compound to maintain that majority, and ultimately attempting to poison, if not kill, townspeople by spreading Salmonella on purpose. In addition to attempted murder, second-degree assault, illegal wiretapping, arson, and immigration fraud, Sheela’s list of criminal offenses also includes attempted murder, second-degree assault, illegal wiretapping, and arson.

Wild Wild Country is a bizarre, stranger-than-fiction tale, but the documentary could have delved deeper into the depravities and/or conspiracies that occurred there. According to an article in The New Republic, Win McCormack praised the documentary as the most comprehensive examination of the cult to date, but it should have delved deeper into how harmful it was. The estate managers for Osho, the Osho International Foundation, assert, “Unfortunately, the docuseries fails to explore crucial aspects and therefore fails to provide a clear account of the true story behind the story. This was essentially a US government plot, from the White House on down, to thwart Osho’s vision of a community based on conscious living.” Make what you will of this. Or, even better, watch Wild Wild Country and derive your own conclusions. David Trumbore

Directed by: Clay Tweel

True crime was first popularized in print, and best-selling author John Grisham published his only nonfiction true crime book, The Innocent Man, in 2006. The fact that this particular story was popular before the docuseries adaptation does not diminish the show’s value. In fact, Grisham is an on-camera participant in the six-episode investigation, which not only recounts a truly stranger-than-fiction tale of two murders and possibly wrongful convictions in a small Oklahoma town, but also provides an insightful, wildly compelling, and infuriating account of the human cost when the U.S. justice system fails. – A. Chitwood Adam

Directed by: Geno McDermott

Since I’ve been a fan of the New England Patriots since middle school, the news that one of our star tight ends had committed multiple murders struck me like a Tom Brady spiral to the chest. The Mind of Aaron Hernandez attempts to explain this, and trust me, it’s difficult to explain, if not entirely unexplainable. The documentary explores Hernandez’s drug use after the loss of his father and how he fell in with a bad crowd despite his football prowess. He attempted to escape his demons by rejecting his hometown UConn for Florida, but they only intensified there. By the time he returned to New England to play in the NFL, he believed he was untouchable. When his prospective brother-in-law Odin Lloyd threatened to reveal Hernandez’s deepest, darkest secret — that he was bisexual — he murdered him. And Lloyd was not the only victim of Hernandez, who presumably murdered two other individuals and nearly killed a fourth. It is one thing to read about this harrowing story as it unfolded in newspapers and magazines, but to see it on video is an entirely different experience, and one that is absolutely eerie, particularly considering Hernandez’s $40 million contract. This is a tragic story regardless of whether or not you are an athlete. – Jeffrey S. Sneider

Directed by: Trails Scott

The Family is an excellent choice if you’re searching for a true crime series that isn’t about murder for once. The five-episode series investigates The Family, a conservative Christian organization with a secretive history and a shocking impact on world events in the past. The fact that such a large and influential organization has been able to remain secret for so long is just one of many horrifying revelations in this program, which illuminates the darker side of American politics. – A. Chitwood Adam

Directed by: Yossi Bloch and Daniel Sivan

This documentary series is utterly captivating because it is difficult to know what to believe. The Devil Next Door is about a man named John Demjanjuk from Cleveland who was accused of being a particularly sadistic Nazi concentration camp guard known as “Ivan the Terrible.” Dozens of Holocaust survivors recognized him following his arrest and extradition to Israel to stand prosecution as a war criminal. However, I’ve read enough crime novels to know that eyewitness testimony is the least reliable, because memory is a peculiar entity that changes. Since it’s more of a mystery than other true crime series on this list, where the perpetrator is more obvious, I won’t reveal the conclusion, but suffice it to say that the Holocaust is arguably the greatest crime ever committed, so the stakes are undoubtedly high.

At the center of the documentary is Demjanjuk’s counsel, Yoram Sheftel, who referred to himself as “the most hated man in Israel” during his client’s trial. Sheftel is Jewish and wears a large Star of David pendant during interviews, yet he was defending a man who, whether he was a Nazi or not, certainly appeared to be culpable of… something. This series is elevated by its moral dilemma, as well as its final view of trees. This incredibly compelling documentary will leave you speculating until the very end. The Devil Next Door is the very definition of binge-worthy, comparable to a book that keeps you turning pages well after nightfall. Jeffrey Sneider