New Netflix documentary Web of Make Believe: Death, Lies and the Internet has shot up the platform's streaming charts. The true crime series now holds the number two spot after releasing on June 15, in second place only behind Stranger Things season 4.
The six-part anthology docuseries "tells stories of people caught in a dark and twisted web of modern misinformation and digital deception", according to the streamer's synopsis.
The first episode deals with the practice of 'swatting', which involves making a hoax call to the police and telling them that a serious crime is taking place at someone's address, resulting in a SWAT team descending on an innocent person's home. One tragic example of swatting in 2017 resulted in a man being killed, and this case is the subject of episode 1. Other episodes center around cyber-blackmail, election fraud, and white supremacist hate speech.
The series was directed by Brian Knappenberger, who's also helmed documentaries including The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story Of Aaron Swartz and We Are Legion: The Story Of The Hacktivists, and Ron Howard is on board as a co-producer.
Netflix has a solid track record when it comes to releasing popular documentaries – recently, Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives and The Tinder Swindler racked up the views on the platform, while the former received a perfect score on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes.
If you've already seen all six episodes of Web of Make Believe: Death, Lies and the Internet, fill out your watch list with our picks of the other best Netflix documentaries.
