Real life has always been the best inspiration for any form of art and it is true for the movies and shows as well. Many filmmakers have tried to retell a real-life story on reel and out of all the genres crime shows based on real-life stories make the most compelling watch. Truth is stranger than fiction, they say. Well, such stories prove this true and send a chill down your spine. These shows give a sneak peek into the eccentricities of the human mind and what it is capable of. Here are a few shows and documentaries that will want you to explore more and go deeper into the strangeness of real life.
Delhi Crime (Netflix)
Starring Shefali Shah and Rasika Duggal, Delhi crime is the first Indian show to win the Outstanding Drama Series award at the Emmys in 2020. Based on the Delhi gang rape, the show takes from the case files of the Delhi Police, the story follows the unfailing determination of Varthika Chaturvedi, the investigating officer, to find the perpetrators of the crime.
Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel (Netflix)
College Student Elisa Lam was on a vacation in Los Angeles when she disappeared from her hotel. The docu-series chronicles the mysterious disappearance of Elisa Lam at the infamous hotel. The case is still unsolved.
House of Secrets: The Burari Deaths (Netflix)
When an entire family of 11 was found dead in their house in Burari, Delhi in 2018, the entire nation was shocked and wanted to know what really happened inside the house. Ten of the family members were found hanging while the oldest member of the family was strangulated. ‘House of Secrets: The Burari Deaths’, recounts the incident using real footage and shades light on the bizarre case.
Unbelievable (Netflix)
Unbelievable is a miniseries based on a series of rape cases consecutively reported in Washington State and Colorado. This series is centered on the life of Marie Alder, who is one of the rape survivors. This series is based on the 2015 news article “An Unbelievable Story of Rape”.
Inventing Anna (Netflix)
Inventing Anna is a story of Anna Sorokin, a fraudster who posed as a wealthy German heiress named Anna Delvey while living in New York City. She deceived everyone and stole the hearts and money of New York elites. Sorokin was sentenced in 2019 and the Netflix show is based on the New York article ‘How Anna (Sorokin) Delvey Tricked New York's Party People’.
American Crime Story (Disney Hotstar)
American Crime Story is an American anthology true-crime series with three seasons and three high-profile criminal cases. Season one titled ‘The People v. O. J. Simpson’, chronicled the famous murder trial of former American footballer O. J. Simpson. The second season, titled ‘The Assassination of Gianni Versace’, chronicled the murder of designer Gianni Versace by spree-killer Andrew Cunanan. The third season, titled ‘Impeachment’, is about the Former US President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky scandal and is based on the book ‘A Vast Conspiracy: The Real Story of the Sex Scandal That Nearly Brought Down a President’.
Don't F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer (Netflix)
It is a docuseries that follows a group of amateur internet sleuths who launched a manhunt for Luka Magnotta after he became infamous in 2010 for sharing a graphic video online of himself killing two kittens. Magnotta was later convicted of murdering Chinese international student Jun Lin in 2012. The series is the best example of the darkness of the human mind.
Mindhunter (Netflix)
Mindhunter is a television series based on the 1995 book Mindhunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit written by John E Douglas and Mark Olshaker. Created by Joe Penhall, the show follows the trajectory of the early days of criminal profiling and the founding of the Behavioral Science Unit in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). This series has two seasons, and unfortunately, the terrific series was not renewed for the third season.
Ted Bundy: Falling for a Killer (Amazon Prime)
The 5-part miniseries focuses on the victim. In this docuseries, serial killer Ted Bundy's long-time girlfriend, Elizabeth Kendall, and her daughter, Molly, open up about the serial killer for the first time.
Making a Murderer (Netflix)
Making a Murderer is a true-crime documentary on the story of Steven Avery, a Wisconsin man wrongly convicted of sexual assault and attempted murder in 1985. He was freed in 2003 after 18 years and then jailed for murder in 2007. More than 500,000 people signed a petition calling for Avery's pardon.