| Unknown Number: The High School Catfish | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Skye Borgman |
| Produced by | Ross M. Dinerstein, Rebecca Evans |
| Starring | Lauryn Licari, Owen |
| Edited by | Hans Ole Eicker |
| Music by | Ian Hultquist |
Production companies | Campfire Studios, Terminal B TV |
| Distributed by | Netflix |
Release date |
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Running time | 94 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Unknown Number: The High School Catfish is an American true crime documentary film directed by Skye Borgman and released to streaming on Netflix on 29 August 2025. The documentary tells the story of Lauryn Licari, a teenage girl who was harassed and cyberbullied by someone texting her and her boyfriend using an unknown number.
Unknown Number tells the true story of American teenager Lauryn Licari and her then-boyfriend Owen McKenny, who began receiving harassing text messages from an unknown number in October 2020. [1] The messages stopped, but began again persistently in September 2021 for over 15 months. The content of the messages were threatening, insulting, and bullying, with particular aim at Lauryn's appearance, as well as expressing a sexual interest in Owen. Lauryn and Owen's parents and school staff were concerned for their safety and reported the text messages to the police. An investigation was led by the Isabella County Sheriff, supported by police officers from Bay City and the FBI. The IP address for the phone number was eventually discovered, revealing the perpetrator to be Kendra Licari, Lauryn's mother. [2]
Lauryn Licari and Owen McKenny were interviewed for the film, including their respective parents. Lauryn and Owen's high-school friends were also interviewed, as well as some of the friends' parents. The principal of their high school, Dan Boyer, was featured and interviews with the Sheriff, Mike Main, and FBI Liaison, Bradley Peter, were also included.
| Role | Crew |
|---|---|
| Executive producer | Skye Borgman, Tom Forman, Ross Girard, Alysia Sofios, Justin Sprague, Ariane Wu |
| Co-executive producer | Kasey Han, Will Mavronicolas, Mark McCune, Lindsey Savino |
| Producer | Ross M. Dinerstein, Rebecca Evans |
| Co-producer | Kaley Roberts |
| Composer | Ian Hultquist |
| Cinematographer | Bryan Gosline |
| Editor | Hans Ole Eicker |
| Casting Director | Paul Sinacore |
In its first week of release, Unknown Number reached Netflix's Top 10 films globally. [3] [4] [5]
In Review Online was critical of the film's approach to the subject matter writing "where is the line between examining human evil and exploiting child victims in order to satiate our culture's voyeuristic thirst for true crime entertainment? In Unknown Number, that line not only feels crossed, but it seems like we have plunged headlong down a dark abyss we never should have entered". [6]
Decider recommended streaming the film and in a positive review said "it's enjoyable to try and unravel". [7] The Guardian wrote that "this film is yet another remarkable and chilling cautionary tale of the digital age". [8] TechRadar was positive about the film describing it as "incredibly disturbing" and encouraged viewers to "binge immediately". [9]