As a rule I do not believe much of what I see on TV or the news for that matter, but part 2 changed it all for me . This series was thought provoking,filled with intrigue and at times terrifying.The thought that this kind of witch hunt can still happen and does happen with more regularity than I would like to admit,is a horrifying reality. Part 1 made me sit up and listen...part 2 left no doubt. If you were on the fence about part 1,watch part 2. Kathleen Zellner rips apart the prosecutions case; step by step,point by point, with real science,a team of REAL experts and an unstoppable need to expose the corruption,seek out the truth and bring attention to the gross violation of human rights. How is that for a run on sentence?! I could not catch my breath while writing this...I felt the same way watching it.
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moway111424 October 2018
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This documentary is insane! The best true crime documentary out there. It purely sheds light on the TRUTH of this nightmare of a case. Its infuriating to say the least. The American criminal justice system is SO corrupt, twisted, and flat out wrong for convicting Steven and Brenden to life for a crime they did not commit. EVERYONE needs to watch this documentary and be angry at how they were 100% framed.
unbelievable. -
I've been binge watching this and I'm halfway thru season 2 and all I can say is I'm thoroughly disgusted with the cops, prosecutors, judges, jurors all of them. All one needs to do is watch the very 1st time Brendan's so-called confession tape was aired in the series! That CHILD had NO CLUE what the interrogators were talking about nor what they wanted him to say. This boy was, no IS so innocent, that when they started their LEADING questions regarding "what happened around her head area"...after a long bout of silence he responds quote: "I CUT HER HAIR?". That is how innocent and non-violent Brendan is. That the first thing he could think of ON HIS OWN was a freaking HAIRCUT!!! Those interrogators were SO frustrated by his obvious lack of knowledge of what happened to the poor woman that they announced for all of us to see THAT THEY TOLD HIM she was shot in the head. Haircut to a Bullet in the Brain. Despicable. Wisconsin is full of corrupt cops, prosecutors, state attorneys, forensic analysts, and judges...in at least TWO COUNTIES. SHAME ON YOU!
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mactbc12 September 2018After watching this I will never set foot in the State of Wisconsin. What was done to this man was a fate worse than death. I am normally a supporter of the police but not in WI.
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nagasaki-9801920 September 2018You need to watch this to see what are the autorities capable to do to protect them self
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SpankyWardOnAmazonPrime20 October 2018I should have been in bed 5 hours ago but I can't stop watching the new chapter of the Avery Saga. The miscarriage of justice is frighteningly insurmountable. Being a screenwriter, if this were a movie I was going to write, I would never have been able to use this plot. I wouldn't have believed an audience would accept such a series of ludacris events like the mishandling and planting of evidence, unethical prosecutorial actions and the total and complete lack of ability to self examine their actions, due to fear. Fear because they've fully committed to their guilty story and if found innocent, how bad they'll look.
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TheLeon189710 September 2018This is one of the best documentaries ever created and a must-watch for everybody. The story is so insane and unbelievable that you would think this is a piece of fictional work, but it is not.
The only thing that could have been made a bit better is the episode running-time, sometimes the episodes feel a bit too long.
--9 out of 10 stars-- -
Thomas_from_CA20 December 2015It's hard to put into words how moving this documentary series was. The view of this work from 30,000 feet is perhaps that it is a beautiful but tragic depiction of the powerful versus the powerless in the context of the American criminal justice system, and a haunting reminder of what human beings are capable of when we believe the ends justify the means. The view on the ground - from a very intimate front row seat in Steven Avery's hometown of Manitowoc, WI - is that one man likely endured not one, but two of the most egregious injustices imaginable.
One thing that sets this series apart from previous shows in this genre (like NPR's Serial) is that the producers never once make an appearance on camera, nor does the viewer ever hear their voices, at least not in a literal sense. Instead, they rely on interviews, court proceedings, news clips, and telephone and video recordings to tell the story, often against the backdrop of the Avery's family compound. In a simple and clean way, the series is beautifully shot. And the story itself... unbelievable. But even the most reasonable, even skeptical viewer will have to grapple with the theories put forward. Theories that would seem a reach at best if it weren't for the overwhelming hard evidence unfolding, on film, right before your eyes.
I started out by saying that it was hard to describe how moving this documentary was, and I actually found myself transitioning through the same emotional states (albeit to a much lesser degree) that the key figures seemed to experience: from shock and disbelief to anger and ultimately to a sense of despair.
To me, what separates television and film that constitutes true "art" from that which is merely entertaining, is that it reveals something perhaps not so obvious but nonetheless true about human nature or the human experience. This easily surpasses that standard, but what makes it particularly chilling is that this is not a carefully constructed fictional plot designed to pull our heart strings. This actually happened. And it happened to real a person. To a real family. -
eogeaux22 October 2018This documentary is incredible. It may seem a bit one sided but if you look at the list of people at the end who declined to be interviewed you will see why. You can't begrudge the producers for the other side not cooperating. That being said, the outcome is not very surprising. If you've paid any attention to America's justice system ..... ever ....you would understand that cops and judges are above the law and they can do whatever they want and they have zero accountability. This series just solidified that. Everyone is going to act angry and appalled but then never actually do anything about it. And it will continue and the "good ol' boys" will continue trampling on our basic "freedoms and liberties." Yay USA!! *insert exaggerated eye roll here*
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divingchamp117 January 2016Yes, I agree that this film is incredibly important for understanding the flaws of our Justice System. Ironically, however, this 10 part documentary also exemplifies the flaws of the movie making industry.
After binge watching the show in a single night, I decided to follow my satisfaction with research about the film's origin and process. Much to my dismay, I uncovered crucial evidence that was deliberately undisclosed. In order to keep this review concise and factual, I will not elaborate on the method of my findings. Trust me, however, when I say that this evidence is legitimate.
Nevertheless, these are the most important of my discoveries.
1) Steven Avery touched on the horrific memory of when he "accidentally" roasted his family cat in an open fireplace. What he did not disclose, however, is that this was no accident. In fact, he went so far as to douse the poor cat in oil before intentionally setting it alight. This information alone is enough for me to conclude that this man has an innate blood lust.
2) Remember the conversation during the trial in which the prosecutor states that Teresa Halbach was receiving constant calls from a man with whom she was becoming annoyed/frightened? The name of this caller was not revealed in "Making a Murderer," but it would be staggering news to discover that this caller was the one and only Steven Avery. And yes, it was.
3) Teresa Halbach specifically asked not to go to the house of Steven Avery. This is by far the most crucial evidence, as it confirms that Avery is problematic at the least.
The part of "Making a Murderer" that most troubles me is that the filmmakers portray Avery as a magnanimous, almost saintly citizen of Wisconsin. The way they present his case, it is perfectly clear that he is innocent of every charge that is set against him -- yet this is untrue. This false portrayal makes me question the validity of this documentary, and others.
However, with all this being said, our Justice System has countless flaws in its method of convictions and obtaining evidence, and that is undoubtedly true. So as stated earlier, I do believe that this documentary is important, but its reliability could have been improved upon. -
nicksholl24 October 2018....don't mess with Avery's new lawyer. Her relentless and intelligent approach leaves no stone unturned and has brought much astounding new evidence to light.
I was impressed by the 2 original lawyers in Part 1, but they come across feeble and impenetrable compared to her.
Exploding to see the corruption finally get unfolded- this show has clearly taken the world by storm, and I pray justice and the truth will be brought to light. -
After watching Part 1 I was skeptical about Avery & Dassey's innocence. However, after watching Kathleen Zellner and her team meticulously re-examine, test, and challenge the key evidence, and identity further evidence which was not presented to original trial court, I am now convinced that the wrong men are behind bars. The failings of the police, attorney's and courts in this case beggars belief as does their continued determination to keep these men locked up in the face of overwhelming evidence of their innocence. I hope the Police thoroughly investigate the other persons of interest identified by Zellner. Whilst it is clear that Avery did not commit this horrific murder, the truth doesn't lie far away.
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CheshireCatsGrin23 January 2016After watching this film I felt Avery was guilty as charged. This was before I did reading on all the damaging evidence mentioned in passing if at all by the filmmakers. It felt more like an extremely long episode of DatelineNBC instead of the first Paradise Lost film on the West Memphis Three. Unlike the Thin Blue Line, Making A Murderer doesn't show us there was very little evidence in Avery's case that would have exonerated him. DNA of his inside both her car and on the hood. The *69 calls to the victim to hide his number on the day of the murder. A key found several days after the initial searches of his residence. Evidence missed is not unusual, several key pieces that tied Manson's family to the Tate murders were found on subsequent searches. Lack of fingerprints? Profiler John Douglas wrote it's Mike rarer than one thinks to find identifying fingerprints at crime scenes; this while he was still with the FBI. After finishing this series I did some investigation and found even more evidence than covered in the film. On the other hand, I do believe there is a good chance his mentally slow cousin was fed his false confession.
If you like true crime I think you will really enjoy this for the entertainment value. It's not as depressing as My Brother's Keeper.
For entertainment value- 9 stars For being so biased on the "railroading" of Avery I give it 4 stars.
I rated my average down as by the eighth show I was beginning to lose interest. -
kathykc20028 July 2023Steven Avery has a past history of severe domestic violence toward his first wife, Lori, and his former girlfriend, Jodi. Also, years ago, there were allegations of sexual abuse towards more than one minor relative of Steven. Unfortunately, I didn't research this until after I watched the series. The show's producer/writer couple are deluding themselves if they think he is simply a kind gentleman who was wrongly convicted. The show is compelling, but not real. Just do some homework if you watch this series so you're not in the dark. Of course, there are real problems with our judicial system, the producers were not honest about this case.
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This was one of the most heartbreaking, inhumane and irrational criminal cases I came across in my entire life.
You will find two major types of reviews in here:
1. The skeptic type, based on rational and logical analysis of all the evidence and framings towards Steven Avery and Brenden Dassen making them not guilty (attributing around 10/10 rating).
2. The emotional type, based on irrational and illogical analysis of all the speeches and horror stories the prosecution, the police and the media told the public making them guilty (attributing around 01/10 rating).
This documentary series is constructed to favour the skeptic type (1). However, reality favoured the emotional type (2).
Living the American nightmare, shall them say.
Enjoy this highly unbiased masterpiece. -
vasiln20 December 2015Making a Murderer documents the true story of Steven Avery, sent to prison under questionable circumstances, exonerated on DNA evidence 18 years later, and accused of murder shortly thereafter under equally questionable circumstances.
MaM, ten hours long, is gripping throughout. The story is revealed chronologically, paced so perfectly to leave the viewer gasping at regular intervals, yet never feeling manipulated. But make no mistake: the filmmakers do have an opinion. And by the end of MaM, it is an opinion you will share.
The comparisons to gems like Paradise Lost and The Jinx are inevitable. Up until now, Paradise Lost represented the pinnacle of the genre; MaM tells its story similarly, yet surpasses PL. Where The Jinx, an otherwise excellent documentary, left me with a bad taste, feeling that the truth played second fiddle to its filmmakers' ambitions, MaM never focuses on its creators. The drama is narrated only by the players, the argument made convincingly by historical footage, media and police manipulation made plain not by rhetoric, but by the simple evidence provided by context.
Avery's story, as presented in MaM, is a horrifying story that leaves one infuriated at law enforcement, politicians, and news media. Not generally one for righteous indignation, this was the first series I've ever watched from which I had to take regular breaks out of sheer rage. Avery's story is not a pleasant or uplifting one. But it is as well-told as any I've seen. -
thomassmith7428 October 2018This is an incredible documentary. There is no doubt that Steven Avery was framed by the police in order to prevent the $36M law suit. I wonder how long this will go on until the State of Wisconsin admits to the unbelievable injustice of Avery and the corruption of its officers. This also proves how much power lies in the State and how they really can do whatever they want, and how they control all authorities across it's jurisdiction.
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kiss_fans20 December 2015This is one important documentary. This shows just how wrong the justice system is in America. Im from Sweden and did not know anything prior to this series. But If you have - like me, been reading and seeing other documentaries of this kind. You know this have happened several times. It makes me sick. When it comes to Brendan and his statement I immediately started to think about Jessie Misskelley. A boy with below average IQ and was one of three teenagers that got falsely accused of murdering three young boys in Memphis. He also made a "confession" after the cops had lured and guiding him towards what they wanted to hear. Anyway, I hope that one day, the truth will come out and the ones, that still walks free, get the judgement they deserve and that Brendan and Steven Avry will get their freedom back. This is something everyone should see. If I were a parent I would show it to my kids, if I was a teacher I would show it to my students. I will recommend it to everyone I know.
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allcarcraig28 October 2018This is a very disturbing case, i am a local in the area, and there was no insurance coverage for the county on steve's lawsuit, thus, pay it out of the general fund, or get him arrested and sent to prison....one of the biggest problems is how deputy colburn called in the rav4 plate 2 days before it was discovered, then when they played the recording of his call to dispatch, he said he did not recall doing that.
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heartyjoanna24 October 2018What a women ! She makes me feel powerful and strong ! Women to stand up for what they believe in ! It's so hard sometimes to be a women in this world ! she is in incredible! And so so strong !
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As far as I was personally able to ascertain, the series pilot seemed so densely packed with a plethora of baseless assumptions, and heavily riddled with flawed reasoning skills, to the point to which I felt intellectually compelled to abandon all plans of ever watching the rest of the first season, after viewing just one episode, being completely and utterly overwhelmed by the sheer amount of questionable conclusions. Since I do not particularly enjoy posting spoilers, I hereby spare the reader their rather lengthy list; suffice is it to say, however, that they should be straightforwardly apparent to anyone viewing the pilot with a critical eye, through an objective lens.
Given its sky-high mark on this very site, along with a whole host of awards, won at various film festivals, I can only assume that the production eventually rewarded those that were psychologically able to muster or soldier through it, despite the constant onslaught of logical fallacies and unsound arguments permeating its first episode, for their enormous amount of patience and martyr-like resilience, as a cool morning breeze delighting heated young lovers after an exhaustingly arduous night of passion; personally, I found its powers of inference and intellectual prowess significantly less impressive.
Regardless of its ultimate truth value or popularity, a bad start or flawed pilot constitutes an unpardonable sin in matters of film making, for precisely this very reason: deterring potential viewers from ever engaging the movie or series; this is particularly relevant in a capitalist world of sales and marketing, where books are de facto judged by their proverbial cover; or, in this case, by their prologue.
Not being especially fond of posting low marks on productions I personally deem or perceive as somewhat subpar, I am thereby content with offering this hopefully constructive criticism, in good faith, with the intent of being received as such. -
andrecsramos28 June 2016But I had to do it, as I just finished the 10 episodes and I have so much confusing emotions. I'll try to sum up as best as possible:
1-This is a very well made documentary from the entertainment perspective, and to debate on the American culture / legal system. Despite the content of the case in question (we ll get to that), as an European it's utterly shocking the tactics that are used in court and specially the sentences given by the courts - specially on Avery's first case.
2- The documentary is highly biased, and you can see it from minute 1. One would have think that at the end there would be a major conspiracy proved, and that is not the case (Im again stunned by some reviews I have seen here, or the petitions that I've read were made). The truth is that even with a very biased documentary, you don t have to have a much bigger IQ than Mr. Avery to think of what a huge leap of faith would be to assume it was a Police conspiracy. The amount of resources, luck, people, that would have to be involved in this are just impossible and ridiculous to assemble. Again, tactics in court by the Defense are trying to prove this by all means, but you know it just doesn t make sense.
3- All this supposedly is because of Avery's revenge on his first sentence. Apparently the police as something against him since he was a kid and now is framing him, according to the documentary creators. Let's just think simple here - It s not hard to get that this was a troublemaker, violent guy in his youth. Incompetence and stereotype wrongly made the cops assume he was the rapist. Eventually they would now hate him for the compensation / trials on them. But again, to make such a cinematic conspiracy is just insane.
4 - Yes, strange things still happened. The blood tube is on the top. The utterly stupid decisions of not crushing the car or keeping the key. The lack of any dna / blood on almost every place. But still, these sound 1/10 of the insanity of again having a massive conspiration for a guy who is on the hotspot.
5 - I feel sorry for the kid. One does not know at the end what was his involvement, and you can clearly see is just a very limited 16 year old kid who apparently was influenced by his grown up uncle. 50 years in jail? Again, go to point 1.
Why a 6? Because on one hand had me made my first review and on the other for the exact same reason :)
Cheers -
leahking-6990728 October 2018I watched the first season and did not think it was biased in any way. It clearly showed the facts, so outrageous and unbelievable the average person trying to make sense of it often decides that it is "one sided". Season 2 is the same, it makes you angry it makes you sad but most of all it gives you hope because Kathleen Zellner is solid and will not stop until these innocent men are free. A must watch.
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jetkot17 November 2018The story is fascinating and my heart goes out to Steven Avery. But these shows cannot be fully trusted. They may be selling us a lie . He may have been not innocent. Cannot really say. I did not enjoy it as it only showed one side of the story
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So much was left out in order to make this tragic story of a life lost into a entertainment piece. It is irresponsible and a horrible thing to do to the victims family.
This show clearly manipulated actual court testimonies to create a narrative that law enforcement is bad and the accused now convicted is a victim who was framed. The evidence could not have been more clear in actuality where this show 100% distorted the facts.
What is even worse is that they portrayed the convicted to be a nice guy when he had a long and documented history of violence and abuse towards women.
Avery absolutely deserves to rot in prison. The kid I feel bad for honestly and hope he can get out one day.