The latest entry in Netflix’s American Murder series is certainly not for the faint of heart. While American Murder: Laci Petersen isn’t particularly gory, the documentary’s haunting images, dark subject matter, and suburban setting bring the film’s central murder home in deeply unsettling ways. Rehashing the brutal mystery behind the pregnant Laci Petersen’s 2002 disappearance and the conviction of her husband for the murder of his wife and unbold child is likewise equally heartbreaking. For those who enjoy taking a deep dive into American crime, the streamer has a ton of options. In particular, those who found themselves on the edge of their seats following Laci’s case will be equally enthralled by the previous entry in Netflix’s ongoing series, 2020’s American Murder: The Family Next Door.
While the latter’s subject matter is too recent to have inspired movies like Gone Girl, The Family Next Door is nonetheless a riveting watch that mixes the homegrown intrigue of Netflix’s Laci Petersen documentary with a unique filmmaking approach. Like the streamer’s more recent release, the 2020 documentary depicts the dark side of American families by recounting the 2018 Watts Family Murders, a horrific series of killings that once again took the lives of a pregnant mother and her children. Upon its debut on the platform, The Family Next Door received both critical and popular praise for its blunt handling of its difficult subject matter and effective use of digital technology, guaranteeing that those fascinated by the Laci Petersen case will be equally intrigued by this glimpse into the reality behind a devastating American tragedy.
What Is Netflix’s ‘American Murder: The Family Next Door’ About?
The documentary begins with a disclaimer that immediately sets the tone for director Jenny Popplewell’s film, informing the audience that the project consists solely of footage captured either by police, uploaded to the internet, or handed over to the documentarians by the victims’ loved ones. This disclosure is followed by a cheerful voiceover taken from an old Facebook video posted by Shanann Watts, while a series of similarly upbeat home videos show her two daughters, Celeste and Bella, playing with their father, Chris. Between discussing her daughters’ allergies and gushing over their happy Colorado family, The Family Next Door goes to great lengths to portray the Watts as just your average, everyday family, inevitably increasing the dread of the viewer who knows they’re watching one of Netflix’s best true-crime documentaries.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t take long for reality to sink in, and the film quickly establishes its central mystery when Shanann and her daughters are reported missing by one of the family’s good friends on August 13th, 2018. Using police body cam footage to depict local officers’ initial visit to the Watts home, the film subsequently depicts the growing tension between Chris and law enforcement in the days following the disappearance of his family, showcasing the theories, suspicions, and recovery efforts championed by both. This storyline is also accompanied by The Family Next Door’s increased narrative scope, as Popplewell adopts a non-linear timeline to fill audiences in on the events of the Watts’ past as Chris navigates an increasingly tumultuous present. Between Shanann’s falling-out with Chris’s parents, revelations of Chris’s affair with Nichol Kessinger, and text messages indicating Chris’s faltering emotional state, Popplewell’s film gradually chips away at the happy family to reveal something far more sinister beneath.
‘The Family Next Door’ Uses the Digital Age To Deliver a Uniquely Heartbreaking Documentary
It would be impossible to discuss one of the best documentaries of 2020, however, without dissecting the poignant success of The Family Next Door’s unique aesthetic. Similarly to the digital found-footage style seen in fictional movies like Searching and Missing, the brutally tense atmosphere of The Family Next Door is informed by its reliance on digital technology to tell its real-life horror story. Glimpses into Shanann’s thoughts can be gleaned from text messages that also serve to bridge the gap between each of the film’s startling revelations, and the home videos featured throughout The Family Next Door give audiences direct access to the human toll of the crimes. While footage of media coverage serves a more basic function in the film’s narrative, the most dramatic moment in the movie is easily Chris Watts’ failed polygraph test, where viewers get to witness the man’s real confession as soon as investigators leave the room.
Not only does this moment rival Robert Durst‘s confession in The Jinx in terms of horrifying shock value, but the scene also underscores what sets The Family Next Door apart from even the most thrilling crime documentaries. Unlike Netflix’s Unsolved Mysteries or other films forced to rely on human testimony as opposed to recorded evidence, Popplewell’s film is able to piece together the events of the Watts family murders using the digital means at hand. What follows is an ultra-realistic and ultra-credible glimpse into the execution of an unthinkable crime. While this approach does sometimes limit the documentary — most notably in not being able to go into Chris Watts’ personal history and motive — The Family Next Door also uses its digital focus to highlight how online misinformation falsely led many to attack Shanann and her family, resulting in a documentary that is equal parts honest and insightful, which may prove refreshing for long-time proponents of the genre.
American Murder: The Family Next Door is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.
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