The movie Gone Girl from 2015 is one of my favourite films of all time. The suspense thriller, directed by David Fincher and starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike, follows a husband as he tries to find his wife after what seems to be a home intrusion. There are twists and turns to the point that by the third act, you can’t possibly believe the revelations that happen.
With a plot as absurd as that, it would make sense for it to be a movie based on a fictional book, and there’s no way something close to that can happen in the real world.
Well, it so happens that during the release of Gone Girl, an event in real life was taking place that closely resembled the fictional story.
American Nightmare is a Netflix docuseries that features events that took place around the time Gone Girl was released, and the terrifying thing was that the events of the docuseries closely mirrored the events of Gone Girl.
American Nightmare
American Nightmare is a 2024 true crime television series directed by Bernadette Higgins and Felicity Morris (Tinder Swindle). 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 Huskins was labelled “The real Gone Girl” by the media.
The synopsis
After a harrowing home invasion and kidnapping in 2015, a couple is accused of staging the ordeal when the woman reappears in this docuseries.
What worked
This is a crime docuseries that tackles a dark subject, but my goodness, this is such an engaging, intriguing, and most importantly, entertaining show. Being a crime show, you may think that the showrunners were trying to exploit the events that the couple went through, but strangely enough, the show doesn’t feel that way. It feels genuine and there is a certain realness to it that makes you empathise with them and really dislike the police.
This is a three-episode show and it makes sense, especially with how they chose to structure it. The first episode focuses on the husband, then the second focuses on the wife who goes through a tough experience. The third episode is where all the intrigue is, introducing twists and new elements that amplify the experience.
Throughout the episodes, the police and the FBI leave you wondering how it’s possible for authorities in what is considered to be a first-world country to be that reckless, especially when it comes to dealing with victims of assault.
The absurd story/plot, plus the direction and general structure, make for a well-put-together experience that will stay with you and just goes to show, as mentioned before, just how law enforcement can at times be a letdown. I keep going back to the police because the core of this story is tied to the incompetence of the law enforcement.
I was really impressed by the reenactments. While yes, they look like reenactments, they are shot in such a way that they don’t draw attention to themselves.
But, all in all, the most impressive thing about this series is the editing. The reenactments, the interviews, and the real footage are blended in so well that sometimes you can’t tell where one begins and the other ends which at the end makes the three episodes gel together perfectly.
The docuseries, while exciting, still looks and follows the formula of crime documentaries. While the structure works in creating a well-intriguing and well-flowing series of events, and the format helps to keep the viewer engaged, it’s something we have seen before. It looks and feels generic.
Conclusion
This is a very well-edited documentary that, despite its disturbing story, somehow it remains very engaging and entertaining. It is a horrifyingly fascinating case and series that chillingly and effectively examines the failures of the police and law enforcement. If you have watched Gone Girl, you will be shocked by how similar this real-life case is. And if you haven’t, you will still be captivated by this American Nightmare.
