Featured Image Credit: Netflix
Topics: True crime, Netflix, Documentaries, Film and TV
Michael Slavin
When it comes to true crime documentaries, there is nowhere better to look than Netflix.
Whether it be classics like Don’t F**k with Cats, or more recent releases such as The Man With 1000 Kids or Worst Roommate Ever, if you need a true crime fix and fancy something more visual than the 1,000s of podcasts out there – Netflix is the place to go.
Now, viewers have found a new true crime doc to obsess over now though, and it’s one that was released only last year.
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Described as ‘wild’, it features an examination viral fame, shocking twists, and murder – it has everything you could want in a true crime doc.
The documentary is called The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker, and it details the story of a man who at one time went viral – before later becoming a murder suspect.
Check out the trailer here:
The titular Hatchet-Wielding-Hitchhiker is a man called Caleb McGillvary, who also goes by Kai.
McGillvary went viral after an interview clip with him described how he saw someone try and grab a woman, before he ended up attacking them with a hatchet.
At the time, he had been living on the streets, and was widely praised as a hero for saving her.
Later though, he was charged with the first-degree murder of a 73-year-old lawyer and was found guilty.
McGillvary was sentenced to 57 years in prison.
The documentary was posted in the Netflix Bangers' Facebook page, with comments calling it a 'great watch'.
One person said: “Good doc. It's a good reminder of why we should stop sensationalizing people”.
Another commented: “Interesting doco and great watch. Did not expect the story to go where it did”.
And multiple people commented the same thing, as someone else said: "This was wild’, whilst a fourth commented: “Craziest plot twist”.
A fifth said: "Total curveball. Loved it!"
The film also received positive reviews, achieving a 92 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
One review from Lee Zumpe read: “For lovers of true crime documentaries, The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker is expertly crafted and deeply engrossing.”
Another, from Christy Lemire of FilmWeek said: “It's very sad. A lot of films have explored the nature of instant, viral fame... There is always more of a story there, and that is what this cautionary tale is telling us.”
After its release last year, however, McGillvary slammed the Netflix doc, calling it a 'bulls**t smear piece' and 'filled with slander and lies', as well as claiming to be suing the streaming platform.