It’s a tough one.
Netflix fans have been left utterly disturbed by the streaming service’s latest crime series that is based on a true story.
The Stranger dropped earlier this month and has been described as “unsettling”, to say the least.
Inspired by the 2003 Australian case that shook the country, it surrounds a child abduction.
Boy Erased’s Joel Edgerton plays an undercover police officer who has to find friendship with the prime suspect, played by Sean Harris.
While the names have been changed, the show tells the story of Brett Peter Cowan who was found guilty of killing Daniel Morcombe, a 13-year-old boy who went missing in Queensland in 2003.
The murderer and paedophile wasn’t brought to justice until 2014 after a police operation named Mr. Big saw officers posing as a fictitious crime organisation, gaining the trust of suspects in cold cases and convincing them to confess.
The case has seen false confessions from suspects who make claims in order to gain money or status over the years but in Cowan’s case, he had two prior child sexual abuse convictions, and the operation worked on him leading to a life sentence.
Of course because of the nature of the crime, The Stranger is a tough watch and for many viewers, a disturbing one.
One viewer wrote on Twitter: “Netflix’s The Stranger is precisely how a crime-thriller film should be done.
“It’s the most dark and unsettling movie of the year. It gives the viewer confusing details at the beginning and then it starts piecing them together in a very intriguing way. Sean Harris is marvellous.”
Another said: “Well, The Stranger is one of the finest films I’ve seen in some time. Beautifully acted and moody and utterly compelling.”
A third added: “The Aussie Netflix movie The Stranger is probably the most unique true crime movie I’ve seen, and certainly is one of the best.”
