These documentary series will have to be seen to be believed
If you haven’t watched Tiger King on Netflix, you need to do so immediately. Meanwhile, for those that have finished the series, there are plenty more documentaries on Netflix that will leave your jaw on the floor.
While these don’t quite have the drama of tigers and characters like Joe Exotic, they still make for compelling viewing.
The Pharmacist
The gripping new true crime series sees a murder investigation bring to light the deadly reality of America’s opioid emergency. The hero of this new four part documentary is a pharmacist Dan Schneider, telling his story, often through thick tears. He has recorded everything he has been through since his son Danny was murdered. Danny was addicted to crack cocaine, and Dan felt the police were not pursuing his case thoroughly.
Dan decides to track down his son’s murderer himself, and soon uncovers another far-reaching issue putting others in his community at risk — opioids, and the issue of addictive prescription drugs like oxycontin. He doggedly pursues the case, his investigative work resulting in revelations the authorities missed. A local look at this crisis that is affecting America nationally is a real eye opener, tinged with sadness and loss.
Shirkers
In 1992, a 19-year-old woman in Singapore, Sandi Tan, dreams of making her first film, drafting in her friends to help her make her first feature film effort, a candy-coloured murder mystery. Her film teacher, an American man named George, offers to direct the film — only to disappear when production finishes, taking all the footage with him. Years later she looks back at how a troubled older man held her dream hostage.
The irony of her fictional film getting caught up in a real mystery is not lost on Tan. She has spent decades mourning its loss, and the loss of the friends she made it with. Twenty years later, she is reunited with the unseen footage in unusual circumstances. She decides to revisit the making of this film, and what it meant to lose it.
How to Fix a Drug Scandal
Netflix’s new docuseries, coming this week, tells the unbelievable story of a drug lab chemist who became addicted to the narcotics she was supposed to be testing. Her actions led to the overturning of hundreds of wrongful convictions, as it emerged that she had falsified thousands of results to cover her tracks.
For eight years she stole drugs from evidence to feed her addiction. The implications of her tampering and far-reaching fallout of this single person’s actions will shock viewers.
