Review: Don't F**k with Cats

If there's a plus to being sick on the sofa with a virus, it's catching up with shows you've been meaning to binge for a while.

I used to write about crime for a daily newspaper, so I do enjoy me some true-crime documentaries and books. I'd wanted to watch Netflix's three-part series Don't F**k with Cats since it hit in December, but was sidetrack by Christmas, Star Wars, and The Witcher. But I've bloody well seen it now!

Director Mark Lewis didn't just create an expose on some kitten killing videos, he tapped into the backstory of one of Canada's most notorious killers -- Luka Magnotta. And he does so through the lens of Deanna Thompson and John Green, two self professed Internet nerds who were appalled enough by a kitten killing video to bring the culprit to justice.

Surprise! The culprit turned out to be Magnotta before he filmed the butchering of Jun Lin.

What transpires is fascinating and intense stuff that's as exciting as any Hollywood action movie. The series highlights the positive and negative impacts the Internet can have, and is a frightening look not only into Magnotta's repulsive desire for fame, but the dangers of dabbling in something that at first seems "harmless," but quickly turns into a matter of life and death.

Lewis also leaves us with an important question: are we complicit in egging on a new generation of killer, one who's fractured pysche needs the attention of the viewing public to get his thrills? Perhaps, in the end, we just need to switch off the machine?

This is compelling -- and creepy -- stuff, one that does bring Magnotta back into the spotlight he so craved. That alone makes the show controversial, and I questioned myself for watching it. But the story is so absorbing, and Lewis does such a good job covering as many angles as possible, that I enjoyed myself despite myself.

Don't F**k with Cats is a Good, whether you want it to be or not.

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