Featured Image Credit: Netflix
Topics: True crime, Netflix, Social Media, Film and TV
Callum Jones
Netflix subscribers have been left shocked by an 'unsettling' new true crime documentary that's 'too disturbing' to even finish.
Looking for something new to watch on the streaming platform this weekend? Well, this true crime doc may be the one.
That is if you enjoy that genre however, because if you don't, you'll likely find it a bit much.
Directed by The Swell Season’s Nick August-Perna and executively produced by Louis Theroux, the newest doc to hit Netflix recalls the harrowing case against Anna Stubblefield.
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In 2009, philosophy professor Anna, then 41, met a non-verbal man with cerebral palsy, Derrick Johnson, then 30.
They met through Derrick's brother, John Johnson, who was enrolled on one of Anna's courses at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey.
John had approached her about his brother’s condition to learn more about facilitated communication (FC), an assisted typing technique.
The Times reported in 2015 that both of the teacher’s parents held Ph.D.s in special education and had a lot of experience working with people with disabilities.
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Anna was seemingly following in his mother and father's footsteps by offering to help Derrick with his communication skills, but that did not exactly come to fruition.
The professor, who was married at the time, claims that what happened went on to happen between her and Derrick was a consensual sexual relationship.
However, his mother, Daisy Johnson, says her son was incapable of engaging in physical or emotional intimacy.
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As a result, in 2015 Anna was found guilty of two counts of first degree aggravated sexual assault and sentenced to 12 years in jail.
However, in 2017, her appeal was granted and her conviction was revoked on grounds of a technicality.
Tell Them You Love Me explores the controversial relationship between Anna and Derrick and the ultimate conflict that led to a criminal trial and a felony conviction.
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Ever since its release on Netflix, Tell Them You Love Me has become the talk of the town on social media.
And it seems the vast majority of viewers have been left shocked by the story.
"Too disturbing for me to continue watch it," one person commented on X.
A second added: "I’ve watched A LOT of documentaries but Tell them you love me on Netflix was truly some of the sickest s**t I’ve ever seen. That woman needs to be PUT AWAY FOREVER."
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While a third remarked: "The Tell Them You Love Me doc was the most disgusting thing I've seen."
And someone else commented: "Tell Them You Love Me might be one of the most unsettling documentaries I’ve ever watched on Netflix."
Tell Them You Love Me is available to stream on Netflix now.
Male Survivors Partnership is available to support adult male survivors of sexual abuse and rape. You can contact the organisation on their website or on their free helpline 0808 800 5005, open 9am–8pm Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays; 8am–8pm Tuesdays and Thursdays; 10am–2pm Saturdays.