Are Netflix viewers finally moving on from the true-crime docuseries genre that carried the platform through the pandemic?
Variety examined the releases of Netflix's 2021 true-crime docuseries and found that the company was seeing “diminishing returns” on true-crime programming as the year progressed. Using Netflix’s “Top 10” as an indicator, Variety looked at all 2021 true-crime series and organized them in a chart — and check out all the blank spaces as the year progresses:
| Title | Release Date | 1 (Day Since Release) | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer | 1/13/2021 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 9 |
| Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel | 2/10/2021 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 10 |
| Murder Among the Mormons | 3/3/2021 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | ||||||||
| Under Suspicion: Uncovering the Wesphael Case | 3/17/2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| This Is a Robbery: The World’s Biggest Art Heist | 4/7/2021 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | |||||||
| The Sons of Sam: A Descent Into Darkness | 5/5/2021 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 10 | ||||||||
| Sophie: A Murder in West Cork | 6/30/2021 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 10 | ||||||||||||
| Elize Matsunaga: Once Upon a Crime | 7/8/2021 | 8 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Heist | 7/14/2021 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 10 | |||||||
| Cocaine Cowboys: The Kings of Miami | 8/4/2021 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 10 | ||||
| John of God: The Crimes of a Spiritual Healer | 8/25/2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Crime Stories: India Detectives | 9/22/2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Bad Sport | 10/6/2021 | 10 | 10 | 9 | |||||||||||||||||
| House of Secrets: The Burari Deaths | 10/8/2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| The Raincoat Killer: Chasing a Predator in Korea | 10/22/2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| The Motive | 10/28/2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Catching Killers | 11/4/2021 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 9 | |||||||||||
| Where Is Marta? | 11/5/2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness* | 11/17/2021 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | ||||||||
| Reasonable Doubt: A Tale of Two Kidnappings | 11/23/2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Dig Deeper: The Disappearance of Birgit Meier | 11/26/2021 |
There are a few later successes, Billy Corben’s Cocaine Cowboys (the only true-crime series released after February to remain on Netflix’s Top 10 for 14 consecutive days) and Tiger King season two are among them, but it doesn’t look like true crime is captivating Netflix viewers in the same way as year’s past. Granted, the 2020 and 2019 series didn’t have to compete with Squid Game and Seinfeld, but did have to contend with The Office.
-
Cocaine Cowboys: The Kings of Miami
August 4, 2021Two childhood friends go from high school dropouts to the most powerful drug kingpins in Miami in this true story of a crime sage that spanned decades.
-
Tiger King
March 20, 2020A zoo owner spirals out of control amid a cast of eccentric characters in this true murder-for-hire story from the underworld of big cat breeding.
So what gives? It’s likely just what you think — a mix of true-crime fatigue and more shows and movies of different genres being produced.
True crime’s stranglehold on Netflix’s platform stemmed from pandemic shutdowns that forced everyone into their homes — including film production crews and talent. Naturally, it would make sense for documentaries about events that already occurred to still be in production during a pandemic. Directors don’t need talent in the same space — they can gather video remotely via webcam, a practice that has been utilized by many documentarians long before the pandemic — and don’t need to shoot anything — in many cases, there’s already video of incidents. Granted, many of Netflix’s top pandemic hits, including Tiger King, were filmed prior to March 2020, but it still makes sense that the remainder of the year would be filled with these easy-to-shoot (at least compared to other visual media) docuseries. Plus, multi-part docuseries make for perfect Netflix binge viewing.
But just as one would get tired of eating the same thing for dinner every night, viewers tired of watching the same sort of content every night. Sometimes, people want to laugh. They want to explore outer space. They want something different than a true crime docuseries — and that’s what we’re seeing now. As pandemic restrictions lift and life returns to “normalcy,” so too does the film industry. Now, we’re seeing series and movies released, pushing docuseries out of the limelight and back into the obscure corner of Netflix they’ve long populated.
Don’t worry, true-crime — we’ll always have March 2020 to look back on with a smile.
Netflix
Netflix is a subscription video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 3,000+ movies, 2,000+ TV Shows, and Netflix Originals like Stranger Things, Squid Game, The Crown, Tiger King, and Bridgerton. They are constantly adding new shows and movies. Some of their Academy Award-winning exclusives include Roma, Marriage Story, Mank, and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.