Netflix's #1 Movie Is A True-Crime Doc So Infuriating Viewers Can't Sit Still

Netflix has a new true-crime hit at the top of its U.S. movie chart, and the twist is legitimately jaw-dropping. The problem is everything after the twist. Unknown Number: The High School Catfish is the kind of doc that chases shock value and then forgets to ask the one question any decent story would: why?

The setup

Director Skye Borgman (Abducted in Plain Sight) drops us into Beal City, Michigan, a literal one-stoplight town where teen Lauryn Licari is dating a popular classmate, Owen McKenny. Then the texts start. Hundreds of nasty messages from an unknown number flood both of their phones, pushing them to break up. They eventually do. The harassment quiets down for a moment and then explodes again, now aimed squarely at Lauryn. We are talking messages about her looks, her worth, and commands to kill herself. It gets so relentless the FBI steps in.

The twist

Investigators trace the harassment back to Lauryn's own house. The culprit: her mother, Kendra Licari. Kendra used to work in IT, was fired years earlier, and kept that a secret from her family. Instead, she spent her time blasting out tens of thousands of filthy texts to her daughter. When local police show up, Kendra chucks a second phone into the bushes and offers a limp admission. Nobody presses her on motive. A cop breaks the news to Lauryn gently to the point of avoiding the obvious follow-ups.

The case in a nutshell

• Beal City, Michigan, 2022: Teenager Lauryn Licari dates classmate Owen McKenny.
• Both receive a barrage of anonymous, abusive texts urging them to split. They do.
• Harassment escalates toward Lauryn: insults about appearance and worth, messages telling her to kill herself.
• The FBI joins the case as the stalking continues.
• Trace leads back to Lauryn's mother, Kendra Licari, a former IT worker who had secretly been unemployed for years.
• During the confrontation, Kendra tosses a second phone in the bushes and gives a partial admission.
• Lauryn's father, Shawn Licari, returns from a trip, learns his wife is behind the harassment, and discovers she has been lying about work.
• Kendra also misled Owen's mom, Jill, pretending to help their family find the sender while she was the sender.

Where the doc loses the plot

After the arrest footage, the film turns the camera on Kendra for a sit-down. And then it just... lets her talk. No one pushes her on motive. No outside analysis. No accountability. It morphs from a fact-finding doc into a platform for Kendra to reframe what she did. She claims she did not start the messages and only kept them going to help find the real culprit. Come on. The investigation traced the harassment back to her. The film presents this framing without meaningful challenge, which reads like sympathy by omission.

Who the film treats as the victim

This is where it gets weird. The doc starts to tilt toward Kendra-as-victim, softening the edges around a mother who terrorized her own kid. Meanwhile, Lauryn forgives her mom quickly and talks about unconditional love. That is Lauryn's choice, and it is hers to make. But from a storytelling standpoint, the movie keeps splashing the vile texts on screen, forcing Lauryn to relive them without ever answering the basic why. It does not feel restorative; it feels exploitative.

The take

There is a powerful, necessary story here about digital abuse, manipulation inside a family, and how small towns respond when the unthinkable happens. Unknown Number barely touches any of that. It is 94 minutes of twist-first storytelling that sidesteps motive and consequence, then hands the mic to the person who caused the harm. If you watch, you will be stunned. You will also likely be frustrated by how incurious the film is about the one thing that matters most.

Unknown Number: The High School Catfish is directed by Skye Borgman, runs 94 minutes, and hit Netflix on August 29, 2025. It is currently the streamer's #1 movie in the U.S. and is available to watch now.