A new true-crime documentary that’s arrived on Netflix is being described by viewers as the ‘best to be released in a long time’ as it follows the life of an Elvis Presley impersonator.
Sure, a lot of people mimic the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, but not many have stories like that of Kevin Curtis.
Released this month, the three-part Netflix documentary details how Curtis worked as a janitor as well as an Elvis impersonator – and it was during this day-job that he came across a horrifying discovery in a morgue.
What Curtis found led him into an internet rabbit hole, and he became wrapped up in conspiracies that ended up costing him his job, his wife, his friends and his relationship with his children.
Determined to expose the ‘dark underbelly of Tupelo’ in Mississippi, US where Elvis was born, Curtis’ venture ended up sparking a rivalry that extended all the way to Washington D.C.
In April 2013, Curtis found his quiet Tupelo home being raided by dozens of police and federal investigators as he was accused of sending letters to government officials, including then-President Barack Obama, which had been laced with a lethal poison called ricin.
Each of the letters was signed: “I am KC and I approve this message.”
The documentary features interviews with Kevin’s friends and foes (Netflix)
Curtis was hauled into police custody, and left with no choice but to fight to clear his name.
The Elvis fan was questioned by authorities about his knowledge of ricin – only Curtis responded to insist that he could hardly stand rice and hadn’t eaten it in years.
As authorities continued to investigate, the possibility that Curtis had been framed began to become more likely.
Created by Emmy-winning directors Maclain Way and Chapman Way, The Kings of Tupelo: A Southern Crime Saga features interviews with Curtis’ friends and family – as well as a few people who are presented as his enemies – and the twists and turns have left viewers at the edge of their seats.
Viewers have praised the series (X)
“Kings of Tupelo: A southern crime saga on #Neflix is absolutely the BEST documentary to have come out in a very long time!,” one fan wrote on Twitter after coming across the series.
“Watching the “The Kings of Tupelo : A southern crime saga” on Netflix! Its wild !!!,” another commented, adding: “What a story !!!! Wow. Highly recommend it.”
A third wrote: “Stop what you are doing and go watch this. Pure entertainment. Check out “The Kings of Tupelo: A Southern Crime Saga” on Netflix.”
The series has received a high score of 82 percent from audience members on Rotten Tomatoes and is available to stream now
Topics: True crime, Netflix, Conspiracy Theories, Crime, Film and TV
Netflix subscribers have been left shocked by an ‘unsettling’ new true crime documentary that’s ‘too disturbing’ to even finish.
Looking for something new to watch on the streaming platform this weekend? Well, this true crime doc may be the one.
That is if you enjoy that genre however, because if you don’t, you’ll likely find it a bit much.
Directed by The Swell Season’s Nick August-Perna and executively produced by Louis Theroux, the newest doc to hit Netflix recalls the harrowing case against Anna Stubblefield.
In 2009, philosophy professor Anna, then 41, met a non-verbal man with cerebral palsy, Derrick Johnson, then 30.
They met through Derrick’s brother, John Johnson, who was enrolled on one of Anna’s courses at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey.
John had approached her about his brother’s condition to learn more about facilitated communication (FC), an assisted typing technique.
The Times reported in 2015 that both of the teacher’s parents held Ph.D.s in special education and had a lot of experience working with people with disabilities.
Anna Stubblefield. (Netflix)
Anna was seemingly following in his mother and father’s footsteps by offering to help Derrick with his communication skills, but that did not exactly come to fruition.
The professor, who was married at the time, claims that what happened went on to happen between her and Derrick was a consensual sexual relationship.
However, his mother, Daisy Johnson, says her son was incapable of engaging in physical or emotional intimacy.
As a result, in 2015 Anna was found guilty of two counts of first degree aggravated sexual assault and sentenced to 12 years in jail.
However, in 2017, her appeal was granted and her conviction was revoked on grounds of a technicality.
Tell Them You Love Me explores the controversial relationship between Anna and Derrick and the ultimate conflict that led to a criminal trial and a felony conviction.
Derek Johnson (left) is the subject of a new true crime documentary. (Netflix)
Ever since its release on Netflix, Tell Them You Love Me has become the talk of the town on social media.
And it seems the vast majority of viewers have been left shocked by the story.
“Too disturbing for me to continue watch it,” one person commented on X.
A second added: “I’ve watched A LOT of documentaries but Tell them you love me on Netflix was truly some of the sickest s**t I’ve ever seen. That woman needs to be PUT AWAY FOREVER.”
While a third remarked: “The Tell Them You Love Me doc was the most disgusting thing I’ve seen.”
And someone else commented: “Tell Them You Love Me might be one of the most unsettling documentaries I’ve ever watched on Netflix.”
Tell Them You Love Me is available to stream on Netflix now.
Male Survivors Partnership is available to support adult male survivors of sexual abuse and rape. You can contact the organisation on their website or on their free helpline 0808 800 5005, open 9am–8pm Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays; 8am–8pm Tuesdays and Thursdays; 10am–2pm Saturdays.
Featured Image Credit: Netflix
Topics: True crime, Netflix, Social Media, Film and TV
When it comes to true crime documentaries, there is nowhere better to look than Netflix.
Whether it be classics like Don’t F**k with Cats, or more recent releases such as The Man With 1000 Kids or Worst Roommate Ever, if you need a true crime fix and fancy something more visual than the 1,000s of podcasts out there – Netflix is the place to go.
The true crime doc has viewers obsessed (Netflix)
Now, viewers have found a new true crime doc to obsess over now though, and it’s one that was released only last year.
Described as ‘wild’, it features an examination viral fame, shocking twists, and murder – it has everything you could want in a true crime doc.
The documentary is called The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker, and it details the story of a man who at one time went viral – before later becoming a murder suspect.
Check out the trailer here:
The titular Hatchet-Wielding-Hitchhiker is a man called Caleb McGillvary, who also goes by Kai.
McGillvary went viral after an interview clip with him described how he saw someone try and grab a woman, before he ended up attacking them with a hatchet.
At the time, he had been living on the streets, and was widely praised as a hero for saving her.
Later though, he was charged with the first-degree murder of a 73-year-old lawyer and was found guilty.
McGillvary was sentenced to 57 years in prison.
The documentary was posted in the Netflix Bangers’ Facebook page, with comments calling it a ‘great watch’.
Caleb McGillvary (Netflix)
One person said: “Good doc. It’s a good reminder of why we should stop sensationalizing people”.
Another commented: “Interesting doco and great watch. Did not expect the story to go where it did”.
And multiple people commented the same thing, as someone else said: “This was wild’, whilst a fourth commented: “Craziest plot twist”.
A fifth said: “Total curveball. Loved it!”
The film also received positive reviews, achieving a 92 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
Caleb now finds himself in prison. (Netflix)
One review from Lee Zumpe read: “For lovers of true crime documentaries, The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker is expertly crafted and deeply engrossing.”
Another, from Christy Lemire of FilmWeek said: “It’s very sad. A lot of films have explored the nature of instant, viral fame… There is always more of a story there, and that is what this cautionary tale is telling us.”
After its release last year, however, McGillvary slammed the Netflix doc, calling it a ‘bulls**t smear piece’ and ‘filled with slander and lies’, as well as claiming to be suing the streaming platform.
Featured Image Credit: Netflix
Topics: True crime, Netflix, Documentaries, Film and TV
A true crime series on Netflix has absolutely shocked people online.
True crime continues to carry a huge amount of appeal for audiences online, and this is reflected in the popularity of this new Netflix series.
The docuseries is called Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife and follows the career of Paolo Macchiarini.
Advert
Macchiarini was a celebrated thoracic surgeon who became widely known for his pioneering techniques.
However, it later emerged that he had botched several procedures, and a number of patients died.
Around the time of these supposedly groundbreaking medical discoveries, he began a relationship with NBC News producer, Benita Alexander.
Alexander had been working on a 2014 special called A Leap of Faith.
Macchiarini was married at the time that the pair met, however, he later told Alexander that he had got divorced and the pair got engaged.
But Alexander later came to suspect that something was wrong, and broke off the engagement in 2015.
Netflix
She even went on to say: “I was engaged to a monster.”
Macchiarini, now aged 65, is at the centre of the new documentary on Netflix, which follows how he went from being widely celebrated to disgraced.
In 2016, one year after his separation from Alexander, Macchiarini was fired from his job at Sweden’s Karolinska University.
His dismissal came in the midst of claims of falsification of his CV and scientific negligence.
Two years later in 2018, Swedish authorities reopened an investigation into three cases.
These included allegations that Macchiarini had inappropriately operated on the same three people involved in this case between 2011 and 2014. They had later died.
In September 2020, the doctor was indicted for aggravated assault, with the charge connected to three surgeries he performed at the Karolinska University Hospital.
Netflix
Macchiarini was found guilty of causing bodily harm in one of the cases, and acquitted on the other two charges. He has denied any criminality.
In 2019, however, Macchiarini was jailed for 16 months after being found guilty by an Italian court of forged documents and for abuse of office.
The Netflix series will take another look at this case working with his former fiancée, Alexander.
Speaking in the documentary, she said: “Was this guy a superhero, a super surgeon and the love of my life? Or was he a dangerous conman and a killer?”
The series also includes testimonies from the families of victims, his former colleagues, as well as the people who worked to bring him to justice.
Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife is available to stream on Netflix.
Featured Image Credit: Netflix
Topics: Film and TV, Netflix, News, World News, True crime
Netflix users are flocking to social media in horror over a ‘gut-wrenching’ true crime documentary.
If you’ve already rewatched the true crime series starring Jennifer Garner multiple times and are in need of a one-off documentary film to get you through the last few days of work, the streaming service has you covered.
Prepare to nibble your nails in anxious anticipation
Synopsis
The documentary was directed by Skye Borgman – known for 2007’s The Cellar Door and 2022’s Girl in the Picture – and produced by Top Knot Films.
It covers the kidnappings of a child from Pocatello, Idaho named Jan Broberg, who was abducted on two different occasions in the 1970s – at the ages of 12 and then 14 – by the same person.
The documentary draws on information detailed in a memoir published by Broberg and her mother in 2003 titled Stolen Innocence: The Jan Broberg Story and also includes interview footage with Broberg.
And while the documentary – titled Abducted in Plain Sight, but also known as Forever B – was originally released in 2017 at Mammoth Lakes Film Festival and brought onto Netflix in 2019, some users are only discovering it for the first time, flocking to social media to weigh in with their views.
Abducted in Plain Sight is about two kidnappings which took place in Idaho (Netflix)
Reaction
The documentary has achieved a solid Rotten Tomatoes’ tomatometer score of 74 percent and a matching audience score of 74 percent too and the love – but also terror – for it has spilled onto social media to.
A user named u/MorganAndMerlin took to Reddit thread r/NetflixBestOf to share certain ‘cults/ true crime documentaries’ which make them ‘question humanity’ asking others for more options.
U/ ATipsyBunny replied: “Abducted in Plain Sight.”
“This is the one that truly altered my view on humanity,” u/Cafrann94 responded.
U/frickjerry wrote: “Yup this is the one to watch OP. Watched it once alone and again with my fiancé. Just as shocking. It’s like every time you think you know the full story they throw in another crazy incident.”
And X users have been left similarly taken aback by the documentary.
The documentary has been reviewed as ‘gut-wrenching’ (Netflix)
One X user said: “Abducted in Plain Sight is still one of the wildest documentaries I’ve seen in my life!”
“Had to rewind this documentary at least three times to make sure I heard what was being described. Abducted in Plain Sight (Netflix),” another added.
Advert
And a third commented: “Abducted in Plain Sight. Gut wrenching documentary.”
