Courtesy of Netflix
Modern technology is both a blessing and a curse. The Internet affords us the opportunity to find answers to many of life’s great questions and become more self-actualized. Yet the majority of people use it to start fights with strangers while doom-scrolling through never-ending social media feeds engineered to make users feel inadequate.
Worse yet, some use the Internet to perpetrate real-life harm against others by creating false identities in a bid to feel connected by any means necessary. This very phenomenon is explored at length in the 2010 documentary Catfish and the hit MTV series that followed. The stories from the Catfish universe usually feature lonely strangers perpetrating a false online identity in an attempt to connect with someone who might not otherwise give them the time of day. However, not all of these stories play out like that. In some cases, the catfish has a real-life connection to their victim.
A Netflix true crime documentary that explores such a case recently debuted on the platform, and it has made quite the impression. In fact, the film successfully dethroned KPop Demon Hunters as the most-watched picture on the streamer in the U.S. The documentary is called Unknown Number: The High School Catfish.
The documentary looks back on the harrowing ordeal high school sweethearts Lauryn Licari and Owen McKenny endured when they began receiving spiteful text messages from an unknown number in 2020. The communications initially targeted Lauryn, suggesting that Owen was planning to break up with her and was much more interested in striking up a romance with the anonymous sender. Just as quickly as the messages started, they stopped. Until 2021, that is. When the communications resumed, they took a much darker, more personal turn. What’s more, the volume increased exponentially, with both Owen and Lauryn receiving dozens of messages a day.
The level of personal information included in the texts and social media correspondences suggested that the sender was someone with whom both parties were familiar. The doc chronicles the ins and outs of this shocking case, culminating in a reveal that exposes an unlikely predator. Viewers have been outraged by the way the case played out, with many taking to social media to voice their frustrations about the mishandled investigation and the depravity of it all. Not to mention the fact that Netflix gave a platform to a very troubled individual with a skewed sense of right and wrong.
You can see a sampling of what I’m talking about below!
If you are riveted by true crime programming, you should make haste to check out Unknown Number on Netflix. Many are calling it compelling coverage of a shocking and controversial case. Just be careful not to read too much about it in advance. There’s quite a bit of spoiler-filled discourse about the shocking outcome floating around.
Categorized:News
