Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

American Murder: Netflix documentary leaves users disturbed – 'It's the hardest thing I've ever watched'

‘Feel physically sick,’ one shocked viewer wrote

Jacob Stolworthy
Saturday 03 October 2020 06:49 EDT
Comments
Trailer for American Murder: The Family Next Door (2020)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Netflix users are calling its latest true-crime documentary "one of the hardest things" they've ever watched.

The doc, titled American Murder: The Family Next Door, has riled viewers since its addition to the streaming service earlier this week.

It tells the the story of Chris Watts, a man who murdered his pregnant wife and their two daughters, aged three and four.

Netflix's synopsis reads: “This documentary examines the disappearance of Shan’ann Watts and her children, and the terrible events that followed.”

American Murder has been praised for “using raw, firsthand footage” including bodycam footage of police's visits to the family home in the wake of Shan’ann's disappearance.

However, this footage has led to many viewers feeling disturbed, with one going so far as to say the film left them “broken”.

“God almighty, that was so disturbing,” one Netflix subscriber wrote, with another adding: “American Murder is the hardest thing I've ever watched. Feel physically sick.”

Another person issued a warning to viewers who were only just learning about this case for the first time.

“Those of you that don't know of or are just finding out about the Shan’ann and Chris Watts case because of Netflix are gonna be sick, infuriated and angry. I have been behind this case from the beginning. It is painful.”

Find a full list of every movie and TV show joining Netflix in October here.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in