Les génies du mal

I remember my mom calling to tell me that I should turn on the news and watch this story about a pizza guy who robbed a bank. I remember an update here and there and would occasionally think of the story and google to see if there had been any developments. Upon reading an article about this documentary, I cleared what I had for the following day (today) and binged the four episodes.

I wish I had a dollar for every time I muttered "huh", or "wow" or actually laughed out loud. The director does a phenomenal job of letting the story tell itself and only gets involved to really, really dive in on the major details that make this story even more incredible than you can imagine.

I thoroughly enjoyed every minute, it's a must watch even if you're aren't a true crime buff.

A perfect storm of doc-making. You have a researcher who's spent 15 years of his life getting close to every character, you have a compelling edit that never drags and creates more twists and suspense then 99.8% documentaries, and last of all you have one of the weirdest and most dumbfounding crimes ever undertaken. Blown away by this series and a huge congrats to everyone who worked on it.

The thing is true yet is filled with twists, the ending is surprising, and it's never slow or dull. I don't understand how anyone can rate this thing below 9. In my opinion, a lot of Netflix content is subpar, but this is outstanding.

I've been struggling to get into shows of late, so was happy to find myself hooked on this documentary series, watching it all in just over a day.

Its just mind-blowing. Each episode has its own strong stories that would work well as a stand-alone event, except that they are all related in complex ways and tell this insane over-arching plot. The mystery that unfolds from the bizarre SAW-like first episode is so unpredictable and twisty, right up to the very last moments.

Its fascinating watching interviews, hearing bits of pieces of information, and finding your mind folding in on itself as you try to suss people out, think about motives, all the 'what ifs' etc. There is something always eerie and atmospheric about seeing evidence, street footage of locations, news footage, tying it all together like you're a voyeuristic detective.

I thought it was brilliantly researched and edited, and never a dull moment. I'd have loved for a body language expert like Paul Ekman (or someone like his fictional protege Cal Lightman from Lie to Me) to analyse the interviews for 'tells' as they were plentiful.

With incredible true-stories like this, brilliantly told, I struggle to justify why I'd want to watch a made-up story with self-conscious actors and gimmicky direction. There's so much more to learn, and substantial food for thought from real life.

This is one of the craziest stories I've ever heard of! So many twists and turns, and just when you think you have your head wrapped around it...you find out you don't! Hard to believe this really happened.