An eerie new crime documentary dropped on Netflix earlier this week, and it might be your next binge watch.
If you enjoyed Making a Murderer, The Keepers or Abducted in Plain Sight, then this one is for you. Murder Among the Mormons is a three part series that investigates a number of bombings that took place in Salt Lake City in 1985.
Crucially, the series interrogates the link between the bombings and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. If you don’t know much about the Mormon Church, fear not! The series delves deeply into the fascinating history of this religious group.
The church’s foundation concerns Joseph Smith who claimed to have received golden plates from God in 1823. Since then, the trading of documents relating to these plates has become big business. One document in particular – the Salamander Letter – has become a highly valued artifact within the church.
The explosive docuseries Murder Among the Mormons is now on Netflix pic.twitter.com/URIGacIvMi
— Netflix (@netflix) March 3, 2021
Through a series of interviews, Murder Among the Mormons traces the deadly bombings of 1985 back to the hotly contested Salamander Letter.
Directed by Jared Hess and Tyler Measom, Murder Among the Mormons has already caused a stir on social media. In fact, many who grew up in the church have spoken about how accurately the series represents them.
One Twitter user described the “strange sense of camaraderie” she felt while watching, knowing that others who grew up Mormon would also be watching.
Others tweeted about how they started the series with little knowledge of the church, but were soon gripped by its history.
I went into Murder Among the Mormons with zero context and it had me believing Joseph Smith was led to the gold plates by a magical salamander for 2 whole hours.
I was INVESTED.
— Tyler (@tmonson23) March 4, 2021
Both filmmakers have their own experience with the Mormon church. Measom was born in Utah and raised in the faith, but no longer practices. Hess, on the other hand is a practicing Mormon. Recently, they spoke to Slate about how their connection to the church – and the individuals featured – informed their project.
“Jared and I know these individuals,” said Measom. “We met with them for years—literally—and we became friends with them. They trusted us that we were going to tell a good story. And I hope that we did—I think it comes across that we like these individuals, that we care for them. And I think they wanted to tell this story.”
