8List.ph
  • News
    • Showbiz
    • Opinion
    • Sports
    • Profiles
    • Weird
  • Adulting
    • Career
    • Money
    • Health
    • School & Learning
    • Relationships
  • Pop
    • Movies & TV
    • Music
    • Books
    • Games
    • Theater
    • Retro
    • K-World
  • Lifestyle
    • Style
    • Beauty
    • Food & Drink
    • Nest
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Pinoy
  • Videos
    • Slam8ook
    • Isabuhay Ang Panata
    • 8list Plays
    • Archives
      • 8List Asks
      • 8List Explores
      • 8List Presents
      • 88 Seconds
      • 8secs
      • Filgood
      • Kaya Today!
      • Pagsubeks
      • #8MinutesWith
      • YOUth DECIDE
      • Str8 Up with Delamar
      • Toughest Job 2016
  • Breathe
  • About
  • Sitemap
  • Advertise
  • Privacy
  • Archive
  • Bitesized.ph
  • Windowseat.ph

 

 

 

8List.ph is published by ID8, Inc.

Subscribe
8List.ph
8List.ph
  • News
    • Showbiz
    • Opinion
    • Sports
    • Profiles
    • Weird
  • Adulting
    • Career
    • Money
    • Health
    • School & Learning
    • Relationships
  • Pop
    • Movies & TV
    • Music
    • Books
    • Games
    • Theater
    • Retro
    • K-World
  • Lifestyle
    • Style
    • Beauty
    • Food & Drink
    • Nest
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Pinoy
  • Videos
    • Slam8ook
    • Isabuhay Ang Panata
    • 8list Plays
    • Archives
      • 8List Asks
      • 8List Explores
      • 8List Presents
      • 88 Seconds
      • 8secs
      • Filgood
      • Kaya Today!
      • Pagsubeks
      • #8MinutesWith
      • YOUth DECIDE
      • Str8 Up with Delamar
      • Toughest Job 2016
  • Breathe
  • Movies & TV

Netflix’s ‘American Murder’ is One of The Most Disturbing True Crime Documentaries We’ve Ever Seen

  • Posted on Oct 6, 2020Oct 6, 2020
  • 6 minute read
  • Kyzia Maramara
Total
0
Shares
0
0
1

Netflix’s ‘American Murder’ is One of The Most Disturbing True Crime Documentaries We’ve Ever Seen

Oct 6, 2020   •   Kyzia Maramara

[SPOILERS AHEAD]

Netflix’s latest true crime documentary, American Murder: The Family Next Door tells the horrifying story of the Watts family murder at the hands of someone they trusted the most. Chris Watts murdered his pregnant wife, Shanann Watts, and their two daughters, Bella and Cece. And then he proceeded to lie to the police and the media for the next few days following his crime until he was eventually convicted.

American Murder is a compelling documentary of what possibly happened to the family in the weeks leading up to the murder. It was released on Sept. 30 and since then has climbed the Netflix Philippines’ most-watched chart. Should you watch it? Can you even survive watching it?

 

The hideous crime only happened two years ago

Do not watch American Murder the family next door omg I couldn’t even finish it .. how can someone be so evil.

— laura mellado (@lauramellado) October 4, 2020

On Aug. 13, 2018, Chris Watts strangled his pregnant wife, Shannan Watts in their own bed and at their own home. He later recounted that his four-year-old daughter Bella walked in and asked, “What happened to mommy?” Chris told her that Shanann was ill. He proceeded to wrap his wife’s body in a blanket and laid her on the floor of his truck. He also took Bella and their youngest daughter three-year-old Cece and proceeded to drive an hour to his remote workplace, Anadarko Petroleum.

American Murder: The Family Next Door does not skimp on the details. The world needed to know the horrible fate of the three Watts girls and Netflix gave us just that.

 

This was a man without remorse

I still get chills when I see the body cam footage of Chris Watts putting on his huge act— hours after he had murdered his wife, 2 daughters, and unborn baby. It doesn’t matter how many times I see it. Still freaks me the hell out. He is truly evil. Soulless. #AmericanMurder

— leebz (@wittywhiddy) September 30, 2020

“Cece was first,” Chris confessed.

Once the family arrived at the deserted Anadarko Petroleum, Chris took his youngest daughter and smothered her with her favorite blanket. He then came back for Bella who begged him “Daddy, no.” She suffered the same fate as her sister – both bodies stuffed in the oil tank. Their mother’s body was buried in a shallow ditch nearby. Chris had not only murdered his wife and two daughters but he also murdered his unborn son, Nico Watts.

Watching the documentary, it seemed like Chris did not have any sort of emotional attachment to his family. His interview with the media showed a man who wasn’t the least bit distraught that his family was missing or that he himself murdered them.

Here Are the Best True Crime Documentaries You Can Binge-Watch on Netflix
Here Are the Best True Crime Documentaries You Can Binge-Watch on Netflix
Kyzia Maramara | Jan 25, 2020

 

A well-presented documentary

Just watched ‘American Murder: The Family Next Door’ on Netflix. What a sad and frightening documentary. It’s scary how we can never really know what people are capable of. The violence so many women face at the hands of their partner is terrifying.

— TONI TONE (@t0nit0ne) October 3, 2020

True crime junkies would agree that American Murder is a great documentary. There was no narrator. A compilation of police bodycam footage, social media posts, surveillance footage, and home videos, told the entire story. It’s almost as if you yourself were there. The story went back and forth from the weeks leading up to the murder to the days after the murder, interspersed with interviews with close friends.

 

White privilege?

Imagine if the Central Park 5 could’ve been treated half as good as this pathetic man, This GROWN man begged for his DADDY who then questions him and the detective comes in rubbing on his back…AFTER FAILING THE POLYGRAPH #AmericanMurder #WhitePrivilege

— Krystal♋️ (@NatCurlii_12) September 30, 2020

#americanmurder the way Chris Watts was treated like a saint by police is insane. Can’t help but think how different it would’ve been if he wasn’t middle class and white.

— anna wilde (@annawilde19) October 2, 2020

One scene that stood out among the rest was when Chris had a polygraph test at the precinct. It was that moment that all the lies he fed the police and the media for the past couple of days crumbled. But what was disturbing was the fact that the police treated him kindly, even patting him on the back and consoling him after he confessed. Netizens argued that if it were a person of color, the method would be to “shoot first, interrogate later.”

Nothing to Do? Listen to This Independent Podcast on Philippine True Crime and Mystery Stories
Nothing to Do? Listen to This Independent Podcast on Philippine True Crime and Mystery Stories
Kyzia Maramara | Mar 29, 2020

 

Lesson: Surround yourself with great friends

The MVP of #AmericanMurder. She knew something was wrong within a few hours. She is the reason Chris Watts didn’t have a window of time to do ANYTHING. pic.twitter.com/VE9Dvmj1cA

— ali evans (@helloalievans) October 4, 2020

If it weren’t for Shanann’s friend, Nickole Atkinson, Chris might have gotten away with the murder for a little longer. Shanann wasn’t answering her calls which worried Nickole. She took action and went to the Watts’ home where we see Chris arrive, a mere few hours after the murder. All throughout the documentary, Nickole was there for Shannan, always comforting her through the last few days of the rocky Watts marriage.

 

Strangers will victim blame

I hope all the WOMEN that blamed Shanann for this #AmericanMurder

— (@iSasha) October 1, 2020

Netflix showed how women criticized Shanann saying she “drove Chris up the wall.” She has been described as a “bitch,” “bossy,” and a “narcissist.” In a way, they were saying her murder was justified, almost as if saying her family deserved to be annihilated because she “wanted too much.” Here is a strong reminder that victim-blaming remains to be a problem and that we should start eradicating it if we want to move forward as a society.

8 Chilling True Crime Documentaries You Can Watch on YouTube Right Now
8 Chilling True Crime Documentaries You Can Watch on YouTube Right Now
Kyzia Maramara | Apr 01, 2020

 

People are saying they never want to get married

Truth is stranger than fiction. American Murder is so damn sad and terrifying and makes me NEVER WANNA GET MARRIED.

Like how do you ever know for certain that a man won’t wake up one day and decide to murder you and your children???

— Horace Gold (@hisnameishorace) October 3, 2020

after watching American Murder I scoured thru youtube and saw this comment and ✔️✔️✔️ pic.twitter.com/N7gu0MEvAf

— (@noymisu) October 3, 2020

So what’s the guarantee that your boyfriend or your husband won’t one day decide to murder you in cold blood? Shanann met Chris in 2010 through Facebook. She mentioned in the documentary that she was going through a particularly rough time combating lupus but he was there for her. What happened along the way for their love to end in murder? The sad answer is we might never get the clear and honest truth about what went on in Chris’ head as he was murdering his family.

 

You might not be able to sleep afterward

I think it is ridiculous that there is enough body cam footage to make a whole fucking Movie for #AmericanMurder on @netflix but there was none available for breonna taylor! Fuck off! That’s the country we live in now. It hurts. #vote

— Mickey Smith Jr. (@MickeySmithJr) September 30, 2020

American Murder: The Family Next Door will tear a hole in your heart. You might cry for the little Bella and Cece who will never grow up to become beautiful women or their mother who only wanted a loving family and a little boy to raise. Your heart will shatter at Shanann’s distraught parents and brother who were utterly broken during the court proceedings. And yet, in the end, Chris Watts was sentenced to five live sentences without parole. We’ll take that as a win.

 

Have you seen the Netflix documentary?


Total
1
Shares
0
0
1
Related Topics
  • documentary
  • murder
  • netflix
  • true crime
Avatar photo
Kyzia Maramara

Kyzia spends most of her time capturing the world around her through photos, paragraphs, and playlists. She is constantly on the hunt for the perfect chocolate chip cookie, and a great paperback thriller to pair with it.

Previous Article
  • Food & Drink

Have Your Fresh Produce Delivered by these Stores that Support Local Farmers

  • Posted on Oct 6, 2020Aug 17, 2021
  • Ina Louise Manto
View Post
Next Article
  • Showbiz

Um, Why Is Miss Colombia 2015 *STILL* Talking About Pia Wurtzbach?

  • Posted on Oct 6, 2020Oct 6, 2020
  • Cristina Morales
View Post
You May Also Like
View Post
  • Movies & TV

Lionsgate Play Joins Cignal Super to Revolutionize Streaming in the Philippines

  • Posted on May 22, 2025
  • 8List Editor
View Post
  • Movies & TV
  • Pop
  • Showbiz

8 Iconic Housemates from Pinoy Big Brother’s Early Years

  • Posted on Apr 15, 2025
  • Juan Miguel Severo
View Post
  • Movies & TV

Outrageous Comedies to Watch on Lionsgate Play This April Fools’

  • Posted on Apr 1, 2025Mar 31, 2025
  • 8List Editor
View Post
  • Movies & TV

8 Easter Eggs You Might’ve Missed in ‘Ex Ex Lovers’

  • Posted on Feb 20, 2025Feb 20, 2025
  • Juan Miguel Severo
View Post
  • Movies & TV

8 Upcoming Releases From Netflix Japan That Have Us *SEATED*

  • Posted on Feb 19, 2025Feb 19, 2025
  • Andy Flores
View Post
  • Movies & TV

‘Fantastic Four: First Steps’ New Trailer Heralds A Future For The MCU

  • Posted on Feb 5, 2025Feb 5, 2025
  • Matthew Arcilla
View Post
  • Movies & TV

8 Gloria Romero Films You Can Watch on YouTube

  • Posted on Jan 27, 2025Jan 27, 2025
  • Juan Miguel Severo
View Post
  • Movies & TV

REVIEW: Incognito’s Pilot Week was a Flex

  • Posted on Jan 22, 2025Jan 22, 2025
  • Juan Miguel Severo
2 comments
  1. Pingback: These True Crime Stories of Family Murders Will Make Your Skin Crawl
  2. Pingback: More Netflix True Crime Documentaries to Keep You Up at Night | 8List.ph

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Get the l8est delivered right to your inbox.

8List.ph
  • About
  • Sitemap
  • Advertise
  • Privacy
  • Archive
  • Bitesized.ph
  • Windowseat.ph
Your daily dose of entertaining, useful and informative lists.

Input your search keywords and press Enter.