Netflix series, especially those in the true crime genre , are a hit for the platform. Viewers are drawn to these disturbing stories, and their infamous protagonists. The release of Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story has generated controversy and division among audiences, but these non-fiction series are among the most popular content on the platform.
Netflix's commitment to this type of content is clear: some of the series are dramatizations, while others follow a documentary format. These are five series about real-life crimes that you can watch on the platform:
Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
Starring Evan Peters, it is one of the most-watched series on the platform. It is currently in first place in several countries. But reviews of the series have been mixed. Critics and audiences alike are divided between the excellent technical execution of its director, Ryan Murphy, and the dubious artistic decisions he has made to shape the story. Stuart Heritage noted for The Guardian that the Netflix series is “almost nauseatingly unwatchable.”
The macabre story of "the Milwaukee butcher" takes place between 1978 and 1991, Jeffrey Dahmer murdered seventeen men and teenagers before being sent to prison.
Conversations with killers: The Ted Bundy tapes
This documentary focusing on the crimes of Ted Bundy premiered on Netflix in 2019, iceland number data on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the execution of one of the most mediatic serial killers in the United States. The four-episode documentary series was directed by Joe Berlinger , and features more than 100 hours of interviews on death row and other archival material about Bundy, who confessed to having killed 36 women between 1974 and 1978.
The premiere of this original documentary on the platform coincided with the premiere of the film, by the same director and starring Zac Efron : Extremely Wicked, Amazingly Evil and Vile . The series had its detractors, who criticized that the series does not devote its attention to the victims and prolongs the "myth" surrounding the vile figure of the murderer.
Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer
This series tells the story of Richard Ramirez, better known as the "Night Prowler," who terrorized the citizens of Los Angeles in the 1980s with the murders and sexual assaults he committed in the city. This series of only four chapters does not glorify the killer, instead, it focuses on the work of the detectives and the survivors. Ramirez was responsible for the deaths of 14 people.
The 2021 series is based on the book The Night Stalker: The Life and Crimes of Richard Ramirez , written by Philip Carlo. “The victims ranged in age from 6 to 82. Men, women, and children. There was a feeling that whoever you were, anyone could be a victim and anyone could be next,” the miniseries’ director Tiller Russell told People .