What is it that often makes real life crime and murder shows so much more enthralling than scripted?
We all love a true crime show, whether it's a drama based on real-world events or grisly documentary series. We love seeing behind the veil on lives and stories that, hopefully, we'll never have to experience ourselves.
Netflix has arguably grown its entire empire off the back of crime, with programming like Monsters: The Lyle and Eric Menendez Story hitting the top of its charts as soon as they are released. The streaming service is renowned for the genre, and it does it pretty well too.
Here then are three other series on Netflix you can check out if you've already seen and enjoyed its latest smash hit.
The Staircase
It is fair to say that over the years, if there has been one thing that Netflix has done well, it's the true crime documentary genre. Its ability to present the sheer horror and insanity of real life crime into bite sized episodes is legendary. From Tiger King to Don't F*ck With Cats, the platform has proved to be the best in the business.
The Staircase is another perfect example.
Made in fly on the wall style over a 14 year period, the show is another great piece of work by Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Jean-Xavier de Lestrade. It presents a gripping courtroom thriller, offering a rare and revealing inside look at a high-profile murder trial.
In 2001, author Michael Peterson was arraigned for the murder of his wife Kathleen, whose body was discovered lying in a pool of blood on the stairway of their home, and De Lestrade was given access unparalleled access by his immediate family and even Peterson himself.
The cameras also follow the defence team as they consider the strategic options for the case. Indeed, rather than focus just on the murder itself, The Staircase is an engrossing look at contemporary American justice. And you can expect more twists than a legal bestseller.
We'll avoid spoilers, but it's a fantastic and gripping show that still divides opinion.
Mindhunter
To be fair, any drama focusing on serial killers and directed by David Fincher was never going to be bad.
Considering this is the director who brought the cinematic world Seven, The Game, Zodiac and Fight Club, it was always going to be a safe bet that his first real push into TV would be a success too. With Mindhunter he showed us all how his talents could so easily be adapted to the small screen.
Set in the late 1970s, the show follows two FBI agents (Groff and McCallany), who set up the Bureau's first department to study the motives behind some of the most notorious serial killers of the day.
With a solid sense of tone, beautiful direction and cinematography, and some of the most intense and panic-inducing scenes in modern television, it is by far the best of the current raft of serial killer inspired dramas. At no point watching it do you feel safe, there is always the looming threat of the people they interview, and the whole show is made even better by the fact it is based on real people and real events.
Fincher brought his big screen horror to our living rooms with this one and it's very easy to understand why it has such a dedicated fan base that continue to campaign for a third season this very day.
Making a Murderer
There are many out there that say that alongside Tiger King, Making a Murderer was the series that made Netflix the absolute dreadnought it is today.
The 2015 documentary series follows an ongoing murder case set around a previously falsely imprisoned man, who, while in the process of taking legal action against the police, is arrested for another murder. Did he do it? Was he framed by a corrupt police force desperate to force him into silence? These are the questions that perpetuates the two seasons available on Netflix (so far).
In all honesty, it is very clear that the filmmakers had their own take on the crime and their own opinion on the innocence or guilt of Steven Avery and his cousin Brendan.
It very much points the audience in the same direction and paints its central character Steven in a very favourable light. Since its release there have been other, possibly more balanced shows about the crime that give an absolutely different take, but there's no denying that Making a Murder is compelling television.
It is a quality piece of filmmaking even today, that quite rightly found great success and propelled the network. It's shocking, sad and frustrating in equal proportion, but at the same time never fails to entertain.
We just wish there was a third previously-promised season to continue the tale.
