Netflix’s ‘American Nightmare’ chilled viewers to their bones. If you keep thinking about it and want more nightmares, check out these documentaries.
Netflix’s American Nightmare is a horrifying story about abduction, sexual assault, and gaslighting. Believe it or not, the last part didn’t come from the abuser, but rather the local police force who didn’t believe the story the victims in the documentary were telling. In March 2015 when Aaron Quinn and Denise Huskins were woken out of a deep sleep by a man wearing a mask, the nightmare was just beginning. Huskins was taken while Quinn was left to deal with police who refused to believe him.
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When Huskins reappeared two days later, authorities accused the couple of orchestrating a hoax that wasted law enforcement’s time and resources. The accusations were eventually proven wrong, but not before Huskins and Quinn’s lives were ruined. Thankfully they were able to successfully sue local police, which was a small comfort. If this story got under your skin the same way it did ours, check out these other documentaries.
‘Victim/Suspect’
“We know for a fact that when sexual assault victims report it to the police, they are very frequently disbelieved, and that is something we are trying to change, but that disbelief is a big factor,” law professor Lisa Avalos told the Detroit Free Press about Victim/Suspect, the documentary she was featured in. The series uncovers stories of police who accuse sexual assault victims of lying, only to file charges against them.
Victim/Suspect is currently streaming on Netflix.
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‘Abducted in Plain Sight’
In Abducted in Plain Sight, the Broberg family is the target of a master manipulator who kidnaps their daughter Jan not once but twice. The kidnappings occurred in 1974 and 1976 when Jan was 12 and 14 years old, respectively. She was kidnapped by a family friend by the name of Robert Berchtold. He was so accomplished at manipulation, that Berchtold managed to talk the Brobergs into letting his friendship with Jan continue after the first kidnapping. Things only got weirder from there.
Abducted in Plain Sight is currently streaming on Netflix.
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‘Thought Crimes: The Case of the Cannibal Cop’
Erin Lee Carr, who is behind true crime juggernauts like Mommy Dead and Dearest and I Love You, Now Die, invites us into a disturbing world of futuristic policing where a person can get arrested for their fantasies. Thought Crimes: The Case of the Cannibal Cop takes a hard look at a justice system so desperate for a win that it creates a devastating loss.
Thought Crimes: The Case of the Cannibal Cop is currently streaming on MAX.
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‘The Cheshire Murders’
A home invasion turned deadly when all but the patriarch of the Petit family was brutally murdered in Cheshire, Conn. This is the kind of story that other people look at and think, “That couldn’t happen here.” Well, the “here” was an idyllic town in New England where safety was an assumption. What came of this, was the state of Connecticut repealing the death penalty in April 2012.
The Cheshire Murders is currently streaming on MAX.
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‘Girl in the Picture’
From director Skye Borgman, who also made Abducted in Plain Sight, this tale is somehow even more heartbreaking. It begins with a woman, Suzanne Sevakis, who appears to be dead from a hit-and-run accident though doctors believe her injuries don’t make sense. From there we learn that Suzanne wasn’t who the world thought she was. Instead, she was a victim of a kidnapping years prior. The documentary takes a hard look at being lost and never found in its many forms.
Girl in the Picture is currently streaming on Netflix.
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‘Lost Women of Highway 20’
You can hide a lot of things in Oregon, a state whose foliage is both beautiful and effective when it comes to keeping secrets. Lost Women of Highway 20 follows a journalist who uncovers a single stretch of highway where a killer left a trail of missing women.
Lost Women of Highway 20 is currently streaming on MAX.
Source: https://www.distractify.com/p/documentaries-like-american-nightmare
