Monster may have covered the story of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer first, and this year the season decided to focus on the true-crime story of Lyle and Eric Menendez, brothers who were convicted of murdering their wealthy parents with a shotgun.
The third season of the series is now set to tell the true story of serial killer Ed Gein with Sons of Anarchy actor Charlie Hunnam, but while fans wait for that to come out in a couple of years or so, there are some other true-crime dramas that are very well worth checking out if you got bitten by the true-crime bug.
American Crime Story Series
Before Monster was even a show, creator Ryan Murphy had another anthology series called American Crime Story that followed real-life crimes that became the center of huge scandals. The first season had covered the trial of O.J. Simpson (which was said to have stolen some of the fire of the Menendez brothers’ story), and the following seasons covered the murder of Gianni Versace and White House scandal with Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky.
A fourth season is currently in the works, and it’s said to be covering the rise and fall of the historic Studio 54 which ended up closing due to the owners being accused of tax evasion.
Love & Death/Candy
A true crime story so intriguing that Hulu and HBO made two separate shows about it. Back in the 1980s, Candy Montgomery seemed like the typical Christian housewife who went to church and tended to her family, but out of nowhere ended up murdering her friend with an axe.
Hulu’s Candy came out in 2022 and starred Jessica Biel as Candy and HBO’s Love & Death came out the next year with Elizabeth Olsen as the lead.
Narcos
Probably one of the biggest shows to come out of Netflix during its peak, Narcos was responsible for bringing drug lord Pablo Escobar back to the public consciousness in the mid-2010s. Jumping off the hype of Breaking Bad, Narcos showcased some real-world drug-related politics and violence that had plagued Colombia back in the 80s.
Admittedly the show tapered off by the end, but star Wagner Moura was absolutely compelling to watch as the very real criminal figure that was Escobar.
The Shrink Next Door
Not every crime has to be violent in nature, but they can still sound quite horrific when it comes at the expense of the victim. The Shrink Next Door is based on a true-crime podcast of the same name and stars comedians Paul Rudd and Will Ferrell as therapist Dr. Ike and his patient Marty.
Though Rudd is usually considered to be a nice guy on screen, this series makes him out to be an opportunistic therapist who takes advantage of his poor—but rather wealthy—patient (Ferrell) and takes over his life, cutting him off from family and friends; for his own material gain.
The Act
The story of Gypsy Rose Blanchard had only recently been going around again since she got released from prison last December, but it remains to be one of the craziest when it comes to true-crime drama.
The Act stars Joey King (Uglies) as Gypsy Rose, and Patricia Arquette (Severance) as her abusive mother DeeDee. For years Gypsy Rose Blanchard had garnered sympathy from charities all over the country for her sickness, and as it turns out, she wasn’t sick at all; and her mother had been lying about her age and ailments for financial gain.
Though Gypsy had played the part in her mom’s act for a few years, it’s when she gets an online boyfriend that things start to get a bit more ‘dangerous’ for the mom-and-daughter pair.
Inventing Anna
Before Julia Garner flies into screens as the Herald of Galactus in Fantastic Four, she was swindling rich New York socialites in Netflix’s limited series Inventing Anna.
The series tells the true story of Anna Delvey, who had conjured up an entire persona in order to rob millions off of her rich friends, while at the same time tout an extravagant lifestyle that was all based on a lie.
Pam & Tommy
One of the less violent stories on this list, Pam & Tommy covers the story of the first-ever video to ever go viral on the internet. Back in the 90s, Pamela Anderson (Lily James) and Tommy Lee (Sebastian Stan) had a safe of theirs stolen, and inside it was a sex tape that the thief (Seth Rogen) decided to sell and make a profit out of on the world wide web.
From the director of I, Tonya, Pam & Tommy is a look into the rise of the internet and the increasing invasiveness of the public when it came to celebrities’ private lives.
Under the Banner of Heaven
It does seem that Andrew Garfield has a penchant for playing devout characters who have their faith questioned because of unspeakable violence. He did it for Silence and Hacksaw Ridge, and most recently he did it again with Under the Banner of Heaven.
The story is based on a book by author Jon Krakauer that follows investigator Jeb Pyre (Garfield) as he tries to solve a double murder that was committed ‘in the name of God.’
Welcome to Chippendales
Kumail Nanjiani is best known for his comedic roles like Dinesh in Silicon Valley, but after his superhero career failed to take off with Eternals he moved on to lead the true crime drama Welcome to Chippendales.
The series follows the story of dreamer Steve Banerjee (Nanjiani) an Indian immigrant worker who ends up being the unlikely founder of the world’s largest male-stripping brand—but success comes with a cost, and Banerje is ready to pay whatever it takes to keep it.
Mindhunter
No doubt the true-crime drama that defined the genre for years to come, David Fincher’s Mindhunter follows two FBI agents (Jonathan Groff and Holt McCallany) who pioneered the science of criminal profiling and came up with the term ‘serial killer.’
Though the agents are fictional, the killers —like Ed Kemper and Charles Manson—are all definitely real, and their interviews on the show are based on actual interviews that they had.
The series had been teasing an arc involving the BTK killer who was active from the 70s to the 90s, but Mindhunter was unfortunately canceled before they could close that arc.