The True Crime Boom: Why We Can’t Look Away
Let’s get real—true crime is a phenomenon that refuses to let up. It may be a podcast you cannot get enough of or a documentary that keeps you awake at midnight, but the genre has an irresistible pull.
As TV producer Ed Hersh points out, true crime has become a multi-platform juggernaut, encompassing everything from reality television and in-depth documentaries to scripted fare. But the genre has evolved as well. It’s no longer simply whodunit—viewers today are just as concerned with whydunit and howdunit, and increasingly hungry for tales that delve into the psychology of the crime and the infrastructures that enclose it.
Spotlight on ‘Gone Girl’: Remembering the Gilgo Beach Murders
Into this crowded field steps Netflix’s three-part documentary series Gone Girl: The Long Island Serial Killer, released on March 31. Directed by respected filmmaker Liz Garbus—formerly known for her previous work Lost Girls—the series explores again the disturbing Gilgo Beach murders. During one year, human remains were found along Ocean Parkway in Suffolk County, Long Island. The victims were primarily young women from the New York City region who had been involved in the sex industry, and the majority of them had been missing for years before their bodies were discovered.
For over a decade, the case went cold and shrouded in frustration. It ended that way in 2023, when Rex Heuermann, an architect from Long Island, was arrested and charged as the alleged serial killer. The arrest generated renewed interest—and with it, a chance to look back at the case with new context and an emphasis on the lives that were lost.
Placing Victims Front and Center
What sets Gone Girl apart from other true crime binges is its absolute dedication to keeping the focus on the victims. Garbus willfully avoids sensationalism. What she provides instead is a profoundly human image of the women who were brutally murdered and their families who pushed for justice.
In close interviews with family members, friends, and reporters, the series reveals a complete portrait of who these women were outside of the headlines—daughters, sisters, mothers, and friends. It also critically examines the taboo around sex work and how that prejudice influenced the investigation. Garbus doesn’t hesitate to reveal how the slow pace and lack of urgency of law enforcement’s response left families feeling overlooked and dismissed.
Liz Garbus’s Vision: A Return with Purpose
Garbus initially explored this case in her 2020 drama Lost Girls, which was adapted from Robert Kolker’s book Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery. What resonated with her then—and still does—is the question of whose lives matter enough to fight for. With the 2023 arrest, Garbus had the chance to revisit the tale, this time as a documentary, with more details and insights. The series doesn’t merely retell the crimes—it looks at the larger failures that might have permitted them to occur, such as claims of corruption and mismanagement within law enforcement at the local level. Garbus combines reenactments, archival footage, and firsthand testimony to bring the victims’ stories to life, anchoring the series in emotion as well as fact.
True Crime’s Ethical Crossroads
There is no doubt that true crime is a money maker. Blockbuster successes such as Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story demonstrate that the interest is high, and networks want to make money on it. But the boom is not without its moral issues. Critics and families of victims have complained about retraumatization and the celebration of offenders. Far too frequently, offenders steal the limelight while victims are relegated to footnotes.
Garbus’s Gone Girl is a conscious answer to that critique. By shifting the narrative to focus on the lives of the women and the impact on their families, the series challenges viewers to think critically about whose stories are told—and how.
An Unfinished Story
Although Gone Girl brings new information to the Gilgo Beach case, the tale is far from complete. There are still multiple victims who have not yet been identified. In April 2025, officials revealed the names of Tanya Denise Jackson and her daughter, Tatiana Marie Dykes, whose bodies were discovered along a point near Gilgo Beach back in 2011. As the investigation unfolds, additional charges against Heuermann will likely follow. For the families of the victims and the wider Long Island community, the search for answers—and justice—is ongoing.
A True Crime Story That Breaks the Mold
In a genre that’s commonly criticized as prioritizing shock over substance, Gone Girl: The Long Island Serial Killer is unusual. It’s a sensitive, compassionate exploration of a chilling case, one that resists the victims being forgotten or pushed to the sidelines. If you want a true crime documentary with great storytelling balanced against emotional resonance and integrity, tthis isone this is one.