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Movies & TV

02nd Mar 2024

Netflix drops ‘insane’ government conspiracy doc making viewers question everything

Simon Kelly

Netflix true crime doc

It’s shooting up the Netflix top 10 list.

If you’re looking to binge something for the weekend, then Netflix has come to the rescue with a brand new true-crime docuseries.

American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders follows journalist Danny Casolaro’s mysterious death while probing an alleged conspiracy called “The Octopus” linking spy software theft, unsolved murders and major 20th-century scandals.

The fascinating docuseries weaves investigative journalism, crime and conspiracy together as new light is shed on Casolaro’s death by director Zachary Treitz and photojournalist Christian Hensen.

Netflix drops ‘insane’ government conspiracy doc that’s making viewers question everything

The series, which dropped on the streamer earlier this week, is made up of four episodes examining the real-life story of Danny Casolaro and the dark world he was investigating.

Casolaro travelled to Virginia to meet an unknown source, but was found dead in a hotel bathtub of an apparent suicide during his trip.

Danny’s warnings to family leading up to his death, however, throw up a string of questions and suspicion over who is actually responsible for his death.

Behind the show are the same team who created the excellent Wild Wild Country documentary and this newest entry is just as, if not more, shocking.

Director Treitz said: “It’s like a horror movie in some respects for me, getting sucked into a story like this.

“What happened to Danny, what happened to me and Christian — there’s a cautionary tale there.”

As it zooms up the Top 10 most watched list on Netflix, viewers can’t seem to get enough of the new docuseries, with one saying: “Stop everything you’re doing and watch it. Not being dramatic, this is insane.”

Good reviews are also flooding in, you can check out what some are saying down below.

Decider – “American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders is a fascinating look at a case that not only has huge implications… but it also gives a lot of insight into how journalists can get so deep into stories that sometimes have pretty humble beginnings.”

Rolling Stone – “It’s a significant cut above most true crime fare, aesthetically and especially thematically.”

Roger Ebert – “American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders sometimes feels like its spinning its own wheels, but that becomes an effective way to replicate what undeniably happened to Danny Casolaro.

The Daily Beast – “Enticing viewers with the promise of world-shattering secrets and then miring them in a thicket of debatable facts, dubious conjecture, and manic fantasy, it’s an expert case of true-crime form echoing its content.”

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