Don't F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer - Season 1
The key to NETFLIX’s impenetrable brand is that the streaming service is always searching for ways to make their content both unique and enjoyable for its subscriber base. With their murder documentaries, they have found a way to make dark subject matter into a pleasurable and entertaining experience by transferring the binge model onto real life subjects and stories. Mark Lewis’ Don’t F**k With Cats: Hunting An Internet Killer is every bit as subversive and provocative as its title and distinguishes itself from other documentaries of its ilk by starting with a unique hook: everyday people on the internet played a role in both encouraging and stopping rising serial killer Luka Magnotta. The three-part docuseries is equal parts entertaining, disturbing and self-aware of the dangerous implications that come with shining a spotlight on a killer who craves attention and will do whatever it takes to get it.
At the center of this series is a small Facebook group, known as “Find the Kitten Vacuumer…for Great Justice”, and their quest to track down the nefarious Luka Magnotta, initially wanted for posting an online video depicting his own murder of two cats. As the search for him continues, Magnotta continually creates videos of this kind and feeds breadcrumbs of information to this Facebook group. Eventually, he murders a human being and leads both the Facebook group and the Canadian police on a whirlwind international chase that gains a great deal of news coverage and public interest.
The docuseries positions itself as a thriller and allows Magnotta’s story to unfold slowly and deliberately, with twists and shocks coming like beats in a film. The focus on the role of everyday people in this story provides a new angle through which to tell this story and elevates the already compelling series of events into a high-stakes, suspenseful caper. The series is well-paced and thoughtful in how it delivers information, taking valuable time to let the real-life subjects pause and reflect on the sheer terror of their experiences. In this way, the subjects are humanized and Magnotta is rightfully villainized as the monster he is, rather than the intriguing pop culture phenomenon he wants to be.
Magnotta’s exploits are, without a doubt, shocking and unbelievable and Don’t F**k With Cats addresses this with sensitivity by focusing on its human subjects’ profound sense of disbelief, shock, and helplessness. The documentary comes dangerously close to glorifying Magnotta’s crimes and often portrays his game of “cat-and-mouse” as a guilty pleasure experience. However, Lewis wisely chooses not to show Magnotta’s videos in their entirety for cheap shock value and strives to display self-awareness by exploring the role Magnotta’s captive audience plays in glorifying and aggrandizing him, albeit in a rushed and slightly unearned way. Don’t F**k With Cats is adept at remaining engaging throughout and keeps a deeply human undercurrent that underscores the true horror of its story, creating a simultaneously thrilling and sympathetic experience that rises above standard NETFLIX murder documentary fare.
Don't F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer - Season 1 is streaming exclusively on NETFLIX December 18th
