4 Most Unusual True Crime Projects That Will Surprise Even the Most Seasoned Fans
These projects must be on your watch list.
The world of documentary filmmaking is full of gems that have remained in the shadows of the big hits. Here are four unconventional true crime projects with unexpected directorial choices that you may have missed, but you won't regret giving them a chance.
1. Buried, 2021
The miniseries tells the shocking story of Eileen Franklin, who 20 years later, thanks to psychotherapy, remembered that as a child she witnessed the rape and murder of her friend Susan Nason.
The memories, long repressed, surfaced in 1989, prompting Eileen to accuse her father of the crime. Directors Yotam Guendelman and Ari Pines examine the case from several angles, offering a chronicle of events from a happy childhood to a high-profile trial.
2. Memories of a Murderer: The Nilsen Tapes, 2021
At first glance, this is a typical Netflix doc, but what sets it apart is not the video, but the audio – the real voice of Dennis Nilsen, a Scottish serial killer who murdered at least 12 men.
The movie features selected audio recordings made by Nilsen in prison. He speaks with remarkable poise, reflecting on his life and crimes as if reading someone else's memoirs.
Director Michael Harte invites dialogue, but rightly does not allow the viewer to empathize with Nilsen: the memories of survivors, his mother and police witnesses leave no illusions.
3. The Witness, 2015
In March 1964, 28-year-old Kitty Genovese was murdered near her home in Queens. The New York Times later reported that 38 witnesses heard screams, but no one came to her aid.
The story became a symbol of urban apathy and indifference toward strangers, although decades later much of what was described in the article turned out to be inaccurate or exaggerated.
The movie is a personal investigation by Kitty's younger brother, William Genovese. He goes back to the archives, uses animation to visualize past events, talks to witnesses, and tries to understand what really happened that night.
4. Another Body, 2023
The film tells the story of an engineering student whose face was used without her knowledge in pornographic videos generated by artificial intelligence.
When Taylor encounters police indifference and a lack of clear laws regulating the use of deepfakes, she begins to search for the creator of the fake content herself.
On message boards, Taylor finds other victims willing to help with the investigation and unexpectedly finds herself on the trail of the criminal.