"Unknown Number" grips viewers with small-town cyberbullying mystery
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If you haven't yet seen "Unknown Number," don't worry, we're not going to spoil it for you.
Why it matters: The new true-crime documentary, set in a quiet Michigan town near Mount Pleasant, has become a breakout hit on Netflix.
- It's sparked a wave of online reaction, discussion and criticism. (Links here and below contain spoilers.)
Between the lines: The doc unfolds like a mystery, with a plot twist so shocking and unexplainable that viewers are left wanting more answers.
- The film, released Aug. 29, also exposes the dangers of society's cellphone obsession.
Catch up quick: "Unknown Number" focuses on a cyberbullying case that gripped tiny Beal City beginning in 2020, when a high school couple began receiving threatening and demeaning texts from an unknown sender.
- The texts went on for nearly two years, tearing apart the community as authorities searched for the culprit.
- Viewers follow along through interviews, police body camera footage and dramatic reenactments until the investigation's staggering conclusion.
What they're saying: "It doesn't surprise me that it's garnered this much attention, but at the same time, I don't think anybody was prepared for the response it's gotten," former Isabella County Prosecutor David Barberi, who tried the case and participated in the doc, told Fox 2.
State of play: Since its release, viewers have sought more information about the story's central figures — the teenage victims, their friends and the close-knit circle of parents who carried on a misguided investigation of their own.
The big picture: The documentary genre has exploded in recent years, particularly on Netflix and other streaming platforms.
- The trend took off in the early stages of the pandemic, when people binge-watched documentaries like "Tiger King" and "The Last Dance" to occupy their time during lockdowns.
What we're hearing: "Unknown Number" shows how a documentary can go viral despite taking on a topic that's already received plenty of local and national news coverage.
- "In fact, I think the more media attention a story gets, the more people will be hungry for a documentary about that," says Jason Roche, a documentary filmmaker and associate professor of communication studies at the University of Detroit Mercy.
- "For documentaries to be thriving now, it shows a demand that people have for true stories, and creative telling of those true stories," Roche tells Axios.