True crime has taken over the world. Documentaries as a whole are the fastest-growing segment of the streaming market, and true crime is where most of that interest derives. It's not exactly new. "Dateline" has been spinning yarns about shocking suburban murders for decades. But the technology is finally here for so many more upstart filmmakers to nab Netflix-approved cameras and dive into these stories.
It's still odd so many people find it soothing to flip on a film about a horrifying real-life crime right before bed — but not inexplicable. For one thing, procedurals like "Forensic Files" have always had a somatic quality: The familiar music, that familiar deep-voiced narrator, and the comforting rhythms of procedural competency as police solve the crime.
Modern true crime documentaries, however, don't really work like that. Netflix nabbed the two biggest hits in the genre with "Tiger King" and "Making a Murderer." Both end in ambiguity, and the anxious wait for Season 2. Audiences will curse a true crime cliffhanger, but we keep coming back anyway. A well-told true crime tale is like watching your best friends fight at a party. It's awful, but at least it's not happening to you. And there's definitely a tantalizing psychological riddle there as you puzzle through everyone's anti-social motivations. These are 15 great true crime documentaries you can stream on Netflix right now.
They are:
The Tinder Swindler
Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives.
Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer
The Staircase
Abducted in Plain Sight
Icarus
American Murder: The Family Next Door
Long Shot
Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez
Making a Murderer
Don't F with Cats
Wild Wild Country
Tiger King
Evil Genius
Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes
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