“Why Did You Kill Me?” Netflix Review by Brooke Daugherty : Pop Culture Leftovers

“Why Did You Kill Me?” Netflix Review by Brooke Daugherty

April 18, 2021 8:35 am |

True crime documentaries can widely vary in quality. Some should stick to feature film length while others are much better suited with several episodes to dive deep into the story. Why Did You Kill Me? smartly uses its 83 min on finding Crystal Theobald’s killer. Unfortunately, Crystal gets very little backstory, leaving me wanting more emotional beats.

Director Fredrick Munk utilized traditional interviews as well as a few newer tricks to tell this tragic story. Instead of just verbally explaining the scene or showing an animation, he has participants place vehicles on a scale model of the street where she was killed. Another technique he used has been utilized in more recent docs revolving around the internet. When discussing the MySpace activity, you see it play out on screen like the viewer is logging on and messaging with people.

I remember wild days of social media; using MySpace to connect with strangers, the beginnings of Facebook, wondering who was being honest. I can’t imagine being catfished by the family of someone I had hurt. Crystal was murdered in 2006, well into the To Catch a Predator phase of television. Possibly this is what introduced her family to the idea of using the internet to lure in members of the gang associated with her murder. Yes, the known gang members were the ones using their real names and photos online. I will never understand why someone who doesn’t want to be found by law enforcement would put it all out there on the internet, but here we are.

If you enjoy true crime, watch this documentary. At under an hour and a half, it is a quick watch after dinner or a lazy Sunday afternoon.

PCL Rating: High Taste It

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: FRESH