2022 has seen an endless parade of true-crime series. From Pam and Tommy and Inventing Anna as well as shows like Joe vs. Carole and The Thing About Pam, our ongoing fascinations with scandals and murderers knows no bounds. Whatever the craving, from murder mysteries, political scandals, and kidnappings, countless real life events have been twisted every which way in television across the past few years, and it only seems to be growing in numbers. Often adapted from viral podcasts and best-selling nonfiction accounts, the television format allows these cases to be meticulously dissected and explored over the course of many, nerveracking hours. Here are 15 of the most gripping takes on famous true crimes.
Trust (2018)
Donald Sutherland and Hilary Swank star in this crime thriller which is based upon events that took place in 1973 when John Paul Getty III, grandson of the wealthy billionaire John Paul Getty, was kidnaped and held for ransom in Italy by the mafia. A slow burner cooked all the way through on high, Harris Dickinson co-stars as the careless and drug-fueled grandson as he stumbles around across Rome and falls in with the wrong crowd. Sutherland is both unnerving and terrifying as the cold-hearted grandfather who refuses to pay the kidnapers, and Swank gives a compassionate performance as a mother determined to find her son. The events that unfolded in 1973 have also been adapted into the 2017 film, All the Money in the World, starring Christopher Plummer as John Paul Getty and directed by Ridley Scott.
A Very English Scandal (2018)
A love story turned murderous and political dreams were dashed when a forbidden affair was born. A Very English Scandal is based upon the real-life Jeremy Thorpe Scandal as it follows the liberal member of parliament attempting to have his ex-lover, Norman Josiffe, murdered. The darkly satirical three-hour series stars Hugh Grant as Thorpe, and he’s a manipulative, power hungry man who seduces Norman, an unstable stable boy, portrayed by Ben Whishaw. Starting in the 1960s and steamrolling ahead into those fateful days in the late 70s when Thorpe ordered a hit on Norman after he threatened to make their relationship public, the series is a quick-witted tale of greed and spite.
Dirty John (2018-2020)
Love can sometimes become deadly, and both seasons of Dirty John are based upon true crimes where passion proves to be lethal. Season one of the anthology series follows Connie Britton as Debra Newell, an interior designer who falls in love with the anesthesiologist John Meehan, portrayed by a sinister Eric Bana. Based upon the groundbreaking Wondery true-crime podcast of the same name, the first season reaches a terrifying conclusion as John’s true colors are revealed. Season two, Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story, tells another unnerving crime story with Amanda Peet giving a riveting performance as Betty Broderick opposite an infuriating Christian Slater as her coldhearted husband, Dan. Providing a complex backstory to their marriage and how it all went wrong, Peet and Slater are explosive as they go head-to-head in a messy, deadly, divorce. If simply watching the murderous affair unfold isn’t enough, the podcast series It Was Simple: The Betty Broderick Murders, covers it all.
Waco (2018)
The standoff in Waco, Texas during 1993 will forever remain one of the most notorious massacres in American history. Unfolding over the course of 51 days, the ATF, FBI, and policemen faced off against the religious movement called Branch Davidians led by David Koresh, an armed group living in a secluded ranch near Waco who believed in the oncoming apocalypse. Resulting in the death of 76 members, including dozens of children, Waco deals with the events that lead up to the catastrophic attempted siege of the compound and the excruciatingly tense 51 days that followed.
Waco is in part based upon the memoir, A Place Called Waco: A Survivor’s Story, written by David Thibodeah, a Branch Davidian member and survivor played by Rory Culkin in the show. Taylor Kitsch stars as the delusional, guitar rocking Koresh and Michael Shannon co-stars as FBI negotiator Gary Noesher. Running for a total of six, hour long episodes, the series also features Julia Garner, Shea Whigham, Melissa Benoist, and Andrea Riseborough as Branch Davidian members who follow Koresh blindly with tragic outcomes.
Manhunt: Deadly Games (2020)
The golden rule that is preached every day, innocent until proven guilty, was nowhere to be found when security guard Richard Jewell came under the spotlight when he was accused of being the Oklahoma City Bomber after discovering the bomb at the 1996 Olympic Games in Centennial Park. Killing one person and injuring over 100 attendees, Jewell’s discovery helped to save many lives that night. Manhunt: Deadly Games follows Jewell in the aftermath of the bombing and the scrutiny he fell under by both the media and FBI as they both believed him responsible despite a lack of evidence.
Cameron Britton stars as Jewell with Carla Gugino co-starring as Kathy Scruggs, the journalist who spearheaded the media attacks against him when she broke the story that he was the FBI’s primary suspect. As Jewel maintains his innocence, the series also follows the FBI’s investigation as the real bomber continues to cause destruction across America. The events surrounding the bombing was also adapted into the 2019 film, Richard Jewel, starring Paul Walter Hauser in the titular role and directed by Clint Eastwood.
Unbelievable (2019)
Toni Collette and Merritt Weaver are the dream team in Unbelievable, portraying two hard-boiled detectives determined to catch a serial rapist who's been attacking women in both the Washington and Colorado state area from 2008 through 2011. Based upon the 2015 article, An Unbelievable Story of Rape, Kaitlyn Dever gives a powerful performance as one of the survivors who the police don't believe was raped despite evidence, and she's eventually charged with a gross misdemeanor for false reporting. It’s infuriating to watch, and as Collette and Weaver step into the picture and take over the case, their investigation is both intense and disturbing as they put all the puzzle pieces together and hunt down a monster.
Escape at Dannemora (2018)
Patricia Arquette, Benicio del Toro, and Paul Dano star in this pulse-pounding thriller directed in its entirety by Ben Stiller. Based on the actual prison escape of inmates Richard Matt and David Sweat, portrayed by Del Toro and Dano respectively, they were aided by prison employee Joyce Mitchell, played by a fantastic Arquette. The series is based upon the 2015 Clinton Correctional Facility escape, when the two convicted murderers broke out of the jail in Upstate New York with a massive manhunt following in hot pursuit. Arquette is both spellbinding and confounding as the real-life Mitchell, and the Showtime limited series forms a fascinating character study as it examines why she did what she did. Stiller’s direction never wavers across the show's eight episodes, and he paints a bleak portrait of desperation steeped in suspense and lies.
The People v. O.J Simpson: American Crime Story (2016)
The FX limited series, The People v. O.J Simpson: American Crime, helped reinvigorate the true crime craze within the television world when it premiered in 2016, and since then countless series based upon infamous crimes have yet to slow down. Cuba Gooding Jr stars as O.J. Simpson in this meticulously crafted series that leaves no stone unturned as it follows the murder trial of the former football star. Referred to as the crime of the 20th century, Simpson is put on trial for the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman. Sarah Paulson co-stars as Marcia Clarke, the lead prosecutor who faced ruthless attacks from both the media and the public as she pursued justice and the truth.
Sterling K Brown co-stars as Clarke’s co-worker and prosecutor, Christopher Darden, and both he and Paulson would go on to win Emmy Awards for their portrayals. With Hollywood heavyweights filling every scene, John Travolta and Courtney B. Vance steal just about every frame they appear in as opposing attorneys, Robert Shapiro and Johnnie Cochran, and Vance also went on to win an Emmy Award for Best Actor in a Limited Series. Ryan Murphy delivers an exhilarating, masterful series that touches upon various cultural events and important figures surrounding the case that helped defined the 90s, and he lets audiences decide for themselves whether Simpson is guilty or innocent.
I am the Night (2019)
One of the most notorious unsolved murder mysteries cases of all time, the Black Dahlia killer has never been caught, but that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been countless suspects and conspiracies. Director Patty Jenkins follows one of those conspiracies in I Am the Night, starring Chris Pine as the fictional, drug-fueled journalist Jay Singletary. Set in 1960s Hollywood, Singletary stumbles upon a potential path that leads him to the prime murder suspect. India Eisley co-stars as the real-life Fauna Hodel, granddaughter to the well-respected Gynecologist George Hodel, a man many suspected to be the Black Dahlia killer.
The actress Elizabeth Short, known post-death as the Black Dahlia, was found gruesomely murdered in Los Angeles in 1947. Based upon Fauna’s memoir, One Day She’ll Darken: The Mysterious Beginnings of Fauna Hodel, the series picks up over a decade after the murder when Fauna travels to Los Angeles to seek out her estranged grandfather and crosses paths with Singletary as he becomes obsessed with the crime. Hodel was eventually able to escape authorities and to this day the case has never been closed. For more information on the murder, a podcast was released alongside the series, Root of Evil: The True Story of the Hodel Story and the Black Dahlia.
Dr. Death (2021)
Dr. Death is not for the faint of heart. It will not hold your hand through torturous surgery scenes or grim recovery rooms under the hospital’s florescent light as death looms in the corner. In short, this is not Grey’s Anatomy. The series is based upon the hit Wondery podcast of the same name which covered the shocking true story of Dr. Christopher Duntsch, a neurosurgeon accused of maiming 33 patients in addition to killing another two. Alec Baldwin and Christian Slater play the two real-life doctors who worked at the same Texas hospital as Duntsch and realized what was going on after horrendous surgeries. The pair teamed up and made it their mission to stop Duntsch before he could cause more harm, but unfortunately no one wanted to listen to their pleas and more damage was done. Joshua Jackson is chilling as Duntsch, and the Peacock series spares no detail or bloody scalpel as it pursues the truth in this shocking story of evil.
When They See Us (2019)
Directed in its entirety by Ava DuVernay, When they See Us is a powerful limited series detailing the wrongful arrest and conviction of a group of African American and Latino teenagers who were imprisoned for over ten years in the aftermath of the brutal sexual assault of a white female jogger in Central Park on April 19, 1989. Subjected to racism by the likes of the criminal justice system, police, and the press, When They See Us walks audiences through the night of the crime, and how the five innocent teens, Kevin Richardson, Antron McKay, Yusef Salaam, Korey Wise, and Raymond Santana came to be arrested and charged. It’s enraging to watch the events unfold, and all five actors playing the now exonerated Central Park five give devastating and inspiring performances, with Jharrel Jerome going on to win the 2019 Emmy for Outstanding Actor in a limited series for his portrayal as Wise.
Des (2020)
David Tennant can do no wrong. Whether playing the hero or villain, Tennant is a chameleon that can transform into anyone, and in Des’ case he transforms into a monster as he plays the British serial killer, Dennis Nilsen. The three-part limited series is an unconventional murder mystery, beginning with Nilsen’s arrest after he’s already been discovered by police when human remains are discovered in his plumbing system. From there, he’s alarmingly calm and cooperative with law enforcement as he reveals he’s murdered around 15 men with not an ounce of remorse. Caught in 1983, Nilsen is one of Britain’s most notorious serial killers and the series is in part based upon the biography Killing for Company written by author Brian Masters, who visited Nelson in prison and conducted several extensive interviews that offered a disturbing window into the mind of a monster.
Alias Grace (2017)
A forgotten case from the 1800s in Canada, Netflix brought the shocking double homicide to center stage with Alias Grace. Inspired by the real life of Irish immigrant Grace Marks, portrayed in the series by Sarah Gadon , who was found guilty of murdering her boss and his governess and was then sent to prison in Canada where she claimed to have had no memory of committing the crime. Adapted from the 1996 Margaret Atwood novel under the same name, Marks was one of the most notorious female murderers of the 1800s and her case remains a confounding mystery to this day. An unreliable narrator with unclear intentions, an enamored psychiatrist, Dr. Simon Jordan (Edward Holcroft) begins visiting Grace to interview her and try to figure out what really happened on that infamous day, and why she did what she did.
Mindhunter (2017-2019)
An icy thriller that is unsparing in its exploration of America’s most notorious serial killers, David Fincher’s Netflix original series, Mindhunter, is a unique entry within the true crime cannon. Following the origin story of the Behavioral Science Unit within the FBI during the late 70s, Jonathan Groff and Holt McCallany co-star as FBI agents Holden Ford and Bill Tench as they travel across America interviewing serial killers in prisons as they attempt to understand the warning signs and patterns that they exhibit.
In part based upon the book Mindhunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit written by real life FBI special agent John E. Douglas and author Mark Olshaker, some of the prisoners that are interviewed in the series include Edmund Kemper, Jerry Brudos, Richard Speck, and Charles Manson. Running for two fascinating seasons as it reveals how the FBI began criminal profiling, terms that we’re familiar with today like “serial killer” had yet to be coined. Unfortunately, Fincher has stated that in all probability a season three will never materialize, but never say never.
Chernobyl (2019)
A tragedy of epic proportions, Chernobyl is a tour de force of devastation that follows the 1986 Chernobyl disaster and the clean-up efforts that followed. Beginning on the night of the nuclear plant disaster on April 26, 1986, in the Soviet Union, the series spares no details as various workers within the building and responding firefighters suffer unimaginable injuries and radiation in the aftermath of the explosion. Jared Harris stars as Kurchatov Institute deputy director Valery Legasov and Stellan Skarsgård co-stars as Boris Shcherbina as they both help lead efforts in cleaning up the plant in the days and weeks that followed. Also exploring the lives of various firefighters who were first responders at Chernobyl and miners who helped clear out the sight, Chernobyl focuses on lesser known, untold stories of heroes who stepped up at a time of unfathomable loss.