Evil Genius
2018
Original language: English
- documentary
- crime
- mystery
The story
This baffling true crime story starts with the grisly death of a pizza man who robs a bank with a bomb around his neck - and gets weirder from there.
What it’s like
Cool, flat daylight over the Pennsylvania rust-belt towns and tidy suburban interiors, shot in a detached documentary style: talking-head interviews framed head-on against plain backdrops, interleaved with staged reenactments that lean into lurid, stylised color and lingering close-ups. The sound is a restless mix of ominous string pulses, muted synth beds, and quiet room tone that stretches the silences between revelations. Vibe is deadpan, absurd and unsettling, the kind of mystery that keeps tilting into the ridiculous. It suits a curious evening alone, a binge across a couple of nights, or anyone who likes a true crime story that feels stranger than fiction. Pacing is brisk within each episode, with dry humour undercutting the grim material. The emotional register stays detached, watching obsessive, self-deluding people spiral through their own schemes. Violence is present and sudden, including a graphic death early on, plus crime-scene detail and some gritty reenactments; the grisliness is more shocking than gory, and the mood is more bemused than frightening. For viewers who enjoy wry, morbidly curious true crime and don't need warmth from their watching.
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