#Aftermath movie true story 2021 serial#

Last Call - based on Elon Green's 2021 true crime book Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York - dives into the connected murders of four gay and bisexual men: Peter Stickney Anderson, Thomas Mulcahy, Anthony Marrero, and Michael Sakara. Last Call tackles a horrifying true crime case with care.

#Aftermath movie true story 2021 serial#

Instead of focusing its main energy on the titular serial killer, Last Call finds deeper meaning and purpose in exploring how violence against queer people fostered these killings - and crucially, foregrounds the activists who fought hard to bring the truth to light. While I was initially put off by the show's subtitle, fearing sensationalized trauma in the style of Ryan Murphy's Dahmer, director Anthony Caronna's sensitive treatment of difficult subject matter quickly won me over.

How can true crime documentaries or podcasts responsibly respect their subjects without exploiting them? Is this kind of ethical storytelling even possible given the genre's tendency to resurrect past acts of brutality?Įnter HBO's documentary series Last Call: When a Serial Killer Stalked Queer New York, which documents the investigation and aftermath of a '90s killing spree that targeted gay men in New York City.

After all, behind every seemingly juicy murder case are grieving family members and friends who don't want to see their loved one's death reduced to a cheap thrill. Between questions of ethics and criticisms of lurid dramatizations, the true crime genre has become as much a moral minefield as it is a source of entertainment for many.