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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
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Camilla Hall

It’s a golden age for documentaries – but at what price for people whose lives are laid bare?

Camilla Hall Colin Firth HBO Jennifer Tiexiera Michael Peterson Netflix
Margie Ratliff, Ahmed Hassan, Jesse Friedman, Mukunda Angulo and Arthur Agee, all subjects of well-known documentaries, at the Tribeca festival premiere of Subject.
Margie Ratliff, Ahmed Hassan, Jesse Friedman, Mukunda Angulo and Arthur Agee, all subjects of well-known documentaries, at the Tribeca festival premiere of Subject. Photograph: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Tribeca Festival

When I watched The Staircase, I was transfixed. The 2004 documentary series – rereleased on Netflix in 2018 – tells the story of US author Michael Peterson, who was charged with the murder of his wife.

I was glued to my laptop, Googling the myriad of popular theories: was she, in fact, killed by an owl? Was the murder weapon a discarded blow poke? I found myself playing detective, captivated by the mind-boggling twists and turns of the documentary.

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