Get ready for “Making a Murderer: Part 2” with these 10 other true crime docs, all available to stream on Prime Video and elsewhere.
1: “Making a Murderer: Part 2”
The original created a firestorm when it was released in 2015, with petitions to overturn the convictions of Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey going all the way to the White House. The second chapter (premiering Oct. 19 on Netflix) picks up immediately after the smoke clears … but don’t get burned out; we’ve got 10 more true crime titles you can watch right now.
2: “The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst“
Along with the Serial podcast, HBO’s “The Jinx” helped usher in the current boom era of true crime docs. Following the rise and fall of New York real estate mogul Robert Durst — and a series of suspicious deaths that went along with it — the series benefited as much from its protagonist (Durst is a shady enigma, to say the very least) as it did current events: Durst was arrested on murder charges just hours before the series finale aired. That development, coupled with a finale that ranks among the most shocking in recent memory, cemented “The Jinx” as a doc series for the ages.
Werner Herzog‘s gripping 2011 documentary doesn’t attempt to shed new light on an old case; if anything, it’s about darkness. Through conversations with death row inmate Michael Perry, the family of his victims, and those tasked with carrying out his punishment, it’s an examination of death in all its forms — not merely murder, but capital punishment as well — and the shadow it leaves behind.
4: Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills
This 1996 documentary investigates the conviction of the West Memphis Three, a trio of outsider teens convicted of a grisly triple-murder that gripped a small town. As much an indictment of police procedure as it is public sentiment, “Paradise Lost” looks at what happens when society clamors for a conviction without first considering the evidence … which is to say, its similarities to “Making a Murderer” are unfortunately many.
Through its use of re-enactments and non-linear storytelling, Errol Morris‘ landmark doc not only established new rules for reality filmmaking, it helped overturn the conviction of its subject, Randall Adams, who was sentenced to death for the 1976 murder of a Dallas police officer. Relying on his background as an investigator, Morris pieces together several accounts of the crime, and calls into question key moments of eyewitness testimony. After watching it, you’ll never look at a milkshake the same way.
6: Amanda Knox
In 2007, American exchange student Amanda Knox became the focal point of a murder investigation that made international headlines, and a de facto symbol of perceived American arrogance. Over the next decade, she would be tried, convicted, sentenced, and set free … but it wasn’t until 2016, with the release of the doc that bears her name, that she got to tell herside of the story.
7:”Evil Genius: The True Story of America’s Most Diabolical Bank Heist“
There are true crime series, and then there are this-can’t-be-true crime series. Guess which category “Evil Genius” falls under? An examination of the 2003 “pizza bomber” case that captivated a nation (and inspired the pretty tone-deaf 30 Minutes or Less), it begins as a caper involving a bank robbery, a scavenger hunt, and a homemade explosive device, but gradually expands to a full-blown conspiracy case, making maximum use of eyewitness interviews and footage culled from security cameras and police dash-cams along the way.
8: “The Staircase“
Did novelist Michael Peterson kill his wife, or did she die as a result of an accidental fall down a flight of stairs? That’s the question at the center of “The Staircase,” though things quickly become more complicated, thanks to a trial rife with salacious details and news of a shockingly similar death (involving a Peterson family friend) that comes to light.
9: “The Keepers“
A harrowing seven-part series that investigates the unsolved murder of Baltimore nun Sister Cathy Cesnik, “The Keepers” digs back through the decades to unearth not only a potential cover-up involving the Catholic church, but the deep-rooted secrets that have simmered below the surface of a tightly knit community for generations.
10: There’s Something Wrong with Aunt Diane
The accident made national headlines: a suburban mother drove the wrong way on the Taconic Parkway in upstate New York and crashed head-on into an SUV, killing herself and seven others. In the aftermath, Diane Schuler was portrayed as a reckless drunk and a mother who cracked. But was she the monster the public made her out to be … or the perfect wife and mother that many say she was?
Watch the trailer for ‘There’s Something Wrong with Aunt Diane’ now
11: The Witness
In 1964, Kitty Genovese was murdered on the streets of Queens, New York, while more than 30 witnesses ignored her calls for help. Her story came to define a bleak time in New York City’s history, and for a half a century, it was accepted as the truth. But was it? The Witness follows her brother’s quest to get to the bottom of it all, and the startling discoveries he makes on the way down.
Article originally appears at IMDB
