American Nightmare (TV series)

Last updated

American Nightmare
American Nightmare (TV series).jpg
Genre
Directed by
  • Bernadette Higgins
  • Felicity Morris
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes3
Original release
Network Netflix
ReleaseJanuary 17, 2024 (2024-01-17)

American Nightmare is a true crime television series directed by Bernadette Higgins and Felicity Morris. [1] The series covers the March 2015 kidnapping of Denise Huskins from the home she shared with her boyfriend Aaron Quinn in Vallejo, California. The Vallejo police department and the FBI assumed the kidnapping was a hoax staged by Huskins and Quinn, and Huskins was labeled "the real Gone Girl" by the media. [1] [2] The couple is eventually vindicated when a detective connects another home invasion in Dublin, California, to Huskins' kidnapping, leading to the arrest and conviction of Matthew Muller. [3] [4] [5]

Contents

All three episodes of American Nightmare were released on Netflix on January 17, 2024. [6]

Episodes

All three episodes of the series are approximately 45 minutes long. [7]

No.
overall
No. in
season
TitleOriginal air date
11"Part One: The Boyfriend"January 17, 2024 (2024-01-17)
22"Part Two: Gone Girl"January 17, 2024 (2024-01-17)
33"Part Three: The Others"January 17, 2024 (2024-01-17)

Critical reception

The series has a 96% approval rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 23 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Equal parts infuriating and suspenseful, American Nightmare is an instructive chronicle of institutional bias making a horrifying crime even worse." [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lori Petty</span> American actress (born 1963)

Lori Petty is an American actress, director, and screenwriter. She made her big screen debut appearing in the 1990 comedy film Cadillac Man and later starred in films Point Break (1991), A League of Their Own (1992), Free Willy (1993), In the Army Now (1994), The Glass Shield (1994) and played the title role in Tank Girl (1995). She created and starred in the short-lived Fox sitcom Lush Life in 1996 and acted in number of independent and smaller-scale movies in later career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry Cohen</span> American filmmaker (1936–2019)

Lawrence George Cohen was an American filmmaker. He originally emerged as the writer of blaxploitation films such as Black Caesar and Hell Up in Harlem, before becoming known as an author of horror and science fiction films — often containing police procedural and satirical elements — during the 1970s and 1980s. His directorial works include It's Alive (1974) and its sequels, God Told Me To (1976), The Stuff (1985) and A Return to Salem's Lot (1987).

<i>Beverly Hills Cop</i> (franchise) American action comedy franchise

Beverly Hills Cop is a film franchise of American action comedy films and an unaired television pilot based on characters created by Daniel Petrie, Jr. and Danilo Bach. The films star Eddie Murphy as Axel Foley, a street-smart Detroit cop who travels to Beverly Hills, California to investigate a crime, even though it is out of his jurisdiction.

<i>The Keepers</i> 2017 American documentary series

The Keepers is a seven-episode American documentary series that explores the unsolved murder of nun Catherine Cesnik in 1969. Cesnik taught English and drama at Baltimore's all-girls Archbishop Keough High School, and her former students believe that there was a cover-up by authorities after she suspected that a priest at the high school, A. Joseph Maskell, was guilty of sexually abusing students. The series was directed by Ryan White and released on Netflix in 2017.

<i>The Killing</i> (American TV series) 2011 American crime drama television series

The Killing is an American crime drama television series that premiered on April 3, 2011, on AMC, based on the Danish television series Forbrydelsen. The American version was developed by Veena Sud and produced by Fox Television Studios and Fuse Entertainment. Set in Seattle, Washington, the series follows the various murder investigations by homicide detectives Sarah Linden and Stephen Holder.

<i>Brooklyn Nine-Nine</i> American police procedural comedy television series

Brooklyn Nine-Nine is an American police procedural comedy television series that aired on Fox, and later on NBC, from September 17, 2013 to September 16, 2021, for eight seasons and 153 episodes. Created by Dan Goor and Michael Schur, it revolves around seven New York City Police Department (NYPD) detectives who are adjusting to life under their new commanding officer, the serious and stern Captain Raymond Holt. This sitcom features an ensemble cast of Andre Braugher, Andy Samberg, Stephanie Beatriz, Terry Crews, Melissa Fumero, Joe Lo Truglio, Chelsea Peretti, Dirk Blocker, and Joel McKinnon Miller.

<i>Gone Girl</i> (film) 2014 film by David Fincher

Gone Girl is a 2014 American psychological thriller directed by David Fincher and written by Gillian Flynn, based on her 2012 novel of the same name. It stars Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry, and Carrie Coon in her film debut. In the film, Nick Dunne (Affleck) becomes the prime suspect in the sudden disappearance of his wife, Amy (Pike) in Missouri.

<i>Fargo</i> (TV series) American black comedy-crime drama television series

Fargo is an American black comedy-crime drama television series created and primarily written by Noah Hawley. It is based on the 1996 film of the same name, which was written and directed by the Coen brothers, and takes place in the American Midwest, primarily Minnesota, within the same continuity as the film. The Coens were impressed by Hawley's script and agreed to be named as executive producers. The series premiered on April 15, 2014, on FX, and follows an anthology format, with each season set in a different era and location, with a different story and mostly new characters and cast, although there is minor overlap. Each season is heavily influenced by various Coen brothers films, with each containing numerous references to them.

Ozark is an American crime drama television series created by Bill Dubuque and Mark Williams for Netflix and produced by MRC Television and Aggregate Films. The series stars Jason Bateman and Laura Linney as Marty and Wendy Byrde, a married couple who move their family to the Lake of the Ozarks to continue their work laundering money for a Mexican drug cartel. Bateman also serves as a director and executive producer for the series. The first season was released on July 21, 2017; the second season was released on August 31, 2018; and the third season was released on March 27, 2020. The first three seasons are 10 episodes each. In June 2020, the series was renewed for a fourth and final season consisting of 14 episodes split into two parts; the first part was released on January 21, 2022, and the second was released on April 29, 2022.

<i>The Good Cop</i> (American TV series) American television series

The Good Cop is an American murder-mystery comedy-drama television series created by Andy Breckman. The ten-episode series premiered on Netflix on September 21, 2018. On November 13, 2018, Netflix canceled the series after one season.

<i>Shaft</i> (franchise) Film series

The Shaft franchise consists of five action-crime feature films and seven television films, centered on a family of African-American police detectives who all share the name John Shaft. The first three features may be described as blaxploitation films, the television film series is a mystery, and the fourth feature installment is a crime thriller. By contrast the fifth film installment, released to Netflix, is a satirical buddy-cop comedy.

<i>Sweet Magnolias</i> 2020 American romance drama streaming television series

Sweet Magnolias is an American romantic drama television series, developed by Sheryl J. Anderson and based on the Sweet Magnolias novels by Sherryl Woods. It stars JoAnna Garcia Swisher, Brooke Elliott and Heather Headley. The series premiered on Netflix on May 19, 2020. In July 2020, the series was renewed for a second season. The 10-episode second season premiered on February 4, 2022. In May 2022, the series was renewed for a third season which premiered on July 20, 2023. In October 2023, the series was renewed for a fourth season.

<i>Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes</i> American docuseries on Netflix

Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes is an American documentary that premiered on Netflix on January 24, 2019, the 30th anniversary of Bundy's execution. Created and directed by Joe Berlinger, the four episodes ranging from 51 to 74 minutes long were sourced from over 100 hours of interviews and archival footage of serial killer Ted Bundy, as well as interviews with his friends, surviving victims, and the law enforcement members who worked on his case.

<i>Delhi Crime</i> 2019 Indian drama anthology series

Delhi Crime is an Indian police procedural crime drama television series written and directed by Richie Mehta. Creative manager Chirag Shah and produced by Golden Karaven, Ivanhoe Productions, Film Karavan and Poor Man's Productions. The series star Shefali Shah, Rasika Dugal, Adil Hussain and Rajesh Tailang. The first season is set in the aftermath of the 2012 Delhi gang rape. The second season focuses on the Chaddi Baniyan Gang.

<i>Medical Police</i> 2020 American comedy streaming television series

Medical Police is an American comedy television series, created by Rob Corddry, Krister Johnson, Jonathan Stern and David Wain, that premiered on Netflix on January 10, 2020. It is a spin-off of the short-form alt-comedy series Childrens Hospital, that parodied medical dramas, whereas Medical Police is a parody of international spy thrillers. The series stars Erinn Hayes and Rob Huebel as Childrens Hospital doctors Lola Spratt and Owen Maestro. When they discover a world-threatening virus, they are recruited as government agents in a globe-spanning race to find a cure. In the process, they unmask a deep conspiracy amidst the outbreak. Released during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the series' depiction of a global disease outbreak has been described as "inadvertently timely."

Outer Banks is an American action-adventure mystery teen drama television series created by Josh Pate, Jonas Pate, and Shannon Burke that premiered on Netflix on April 15, 2020. The series is set in a community in the Outer Banks of North Carolina and follows the conflict between two groups of teenagers in search of a lost treasure.

<i>Florida Man</i> (TV series) American television series

Florida Man is an American crime drama television limited series created by Donald Todd, who serves as an executive producer alongside Jason Bateman, Michael Costigan, and Miguel Arteta. It stars Édgar Ramírez as an ex-cop who is sent back to his home state of Florida to solve a case. Abbey Lee, Otmara Marrero, Lex Scott Davis, Emory Cohen, Isaiah Johnson and Anthony LaPaglia also star in main roles. The series was shot in Wilmington, North Carolina.

<i>Murderville</i> Comedic murder-mystery television series

Murderville is an American comedic murder-mystery television series with improvised elements developed by Krister Johnson for Netflix. The series is based on the BBC Three television series Murder in Successville. Murderville premiered on February 3, 2022 with the release of all six episodes of the first season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew Muller</span> American kidnapper, immigration attorney, and Marine veteran

Matthew Daniel Muller is an American kidnapper, former immigration attorney, and Marine veteran. He is known for carrying out the kidnapping in Vallejo, California referred to in the media as the 'Gone Girl' kidnapping, as later depicted in the Netflix docuseries American Nightmare.

References

  1. 1 2 Power, Ed (January 19, 2024). "The jaw-dropping police incompetence exposed by Netflix's shocking American Nightmare". The Daily Telegraph . Archived from the original on January 22, 2024. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
  2. Lowry, Brian (January 18, 2024). "'American Nightmare' finds a 'Gone Girl' spin on the docuseries formula of life imitating art". CNN. Archived from the original on January 25, 2024. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
  3. Roeper, Richard (January 16, 2024). "'American Nightmare': In Netflix doc, couple tells compelling story of police blaming the victims". Chicago Sun-Times . Archived from the original on January 20, 2024. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
  4. Schager, Nick (January 15, 2024). "Cops Accused This So-Called 'Gone Girl' of Faking Her Kidnapping". The Daily Beast . Archived from the original on January 22, 2024. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
  5. "Kidnapping That Vallejo Cops Called a Hoax Is Explored on Netflix's 'American Nightmare'". January 21, 2024. Archived from the original on January 25, 2024. Retrieved January 21, 2024.
  6. Brunner, Raven (January 16, 2024). "When Does 'American Nightmare' Premiere on Netflix?". Archived from the original on January 22, 2024. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
  7. https://www.netflix.com/watch/81672365?trackId=200257859
  8. "American Nightmare (2024)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on February 28, 2024. Retrieved February 28, 2024.