Americans love a good true crime mystery as has been proven with popular television shows such as, Unsolved Mysteries, Forensic Files, Making a Murderer, and now new to Netflix as of Sept. 30, American Murder: The Family Next Door.
American Murder is a Netflix original documentary directed by Jenny Popplewell, and executive produced by James Marsh and Jonathan Stadlen. This true crime doc delves into a slice of life of the suburban family known as the Watts. Viewers are taken on a microscopic journey into the August 2018 disappearance of pregnant 38-year-old Shanann Watts and her two daughters, Bella, 4, and Celeste, 3, in Frederick, Colorado.
With a run-time of 82 mins, this documentary film uses archived footage, such as social media posts, law enforcement recordings, news coverage, home video recordings, and text messages to unfold the events leading up to the disappearances. American Murder does an extraordinary job of piecing together a tragic story of how Chris Watts let the fear of an affair with co-worker Nichol Kessinger possibly being exposed lead to the demise of the Watts family.
Now serving a life sentence, the husband and father of two leaves the world with a lot of questions. One thing that lingers in the air is the mystery behind the reason why Chris Watts would go to this extreme. Was it really the affair that motivated him? What were the unseen events that led up to the tragic deaths? Were there issues with finances, mental health ailments, enraged jealousy, domestic violence, or all of the above?
Viewers are reeling over these questions as the documentary doesn’t give too much background as to “why” these heinous crimes were committed. Popplewell’s masterful film about the struggle of one marriage and how social media deceived everyone into thinking the Watts was a picture perfect family is set to amass 52M viewers making the feature the top watched documentary on the Netflix platform, according to a report from the company.
It’s no mystery that crime has always been a point of interest for many Americans. Some are distraught by the absolute notion of living next door to someone who could possibly be a murderer, while others see these stories as everyday fodder. Many try to piece together the given evidence to solve the case before the story’s end. One thing’s for sure, this doc is a must watch if you haven’t seen it yet. American Murder: The Family Next Door is streaming now on Netflix.
