“The Confession Tapes” Review

Natalie Brink, News Editor

The Netflix original series The Confession Tapes, created by Kelly Loudenberg,  is a true crime documentary that asks an unnerving question: Can people confess to a crime they didn’t commit? Experts, the victim’s loved ones and the wrongly accused share six real-life stories of grief and injustice.

The show offers alternate theories based on crime scene evidence and the victims’ alibis. The show makes its viewers uncomfortable by uncovering the cruel ways investigators can trick people into falsely confessing to horrendous crimes.

By interviewing the people close to the cases, you get an intimate feel with the wrongly accused. They bring up enough reasonable doubt to make the show completely heartbreaking. You understand the pain they went through and you wish you could reform the criminal justice system for them. The show nearly brought me to tears a few times.

However, this series does lose its initial wow factor. The first two episodes, which covered the same crime, had me glued to the television. By the time I moved on to the next episode, I was a little disappointed. After that, the episodes varied in quality. Some were much better than the third and some were much worse, but none came close to the first two episodes.

Overall, the show is very insightful, and it may make you see the world around you in a different light. If you are even vaguely interested in crime documentaries, I highly suggest The Confession Tapes. It is the type of show that haunts you after you finish it, at least the first two episodes.