The verdict is in: Americans love true crime According to data from Parrott Analytics, from January 2018 to March 2021, documentaries on streaming services increased 63%, with true crime being the largest subgenre of documentaries We are in a true crime boom, with fans consuming 38 hours of true crime content each week

Max is one of many streaming services that offer fresh true crime content every month Not all true crime stories are the same Some focus on gruesome murders or graphic acts of violence, while others investigate manipulative cults or abusive corporations But some true crime stories will keep you up at night Here are five of Max's true crime documentaries that will stay with you long after the show is over

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Many true crime documentaries don't have time to listen to the story because the main suspect or perpetrator is incarcerated, dead, or refuses to participate The Jinx has no such problem, and Robert Durst spoke freely about his alleged crimes in the HBO crime documentary Not only did Durst participate, he initiated the first dialogue with director Andrew Jarecki, who dramatized Durst's life in All Good Things before directing The Jinx [The film was about the disappearance of his wife in 1982, the murder of a friend in 2000, and the murder of a neighbor in 2003 Durst's shocking confession confirms his true nature as a sociopathic killer However, the justice system will have the last laugh as this series of events led to Durst's alleged murder

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Terrifying does not begin to describe what happens in Beware the Slender Man What makes this documentary so disturbing is that the perpetrators are children: in 2014, two teenage girls, Morgan Geiser and Anissa Weier, lured their friend Peyton Leutner into the woods Geiser and Weier violently stabbed Leutner 19 times to appease Slender Man, a fictional online character who is a featureless white man in a black suit

Fortunately, Leutner survived, but the debate over Geiser and Weyer's accusations was just beginning Beware the Slender Man is an eye-opening look at mental health and the dangers of the Internet The way in which a mental health crisis leads to violence between the two girls is as horrifying as it gets

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In 2009, Diane Schuler drove her minivan the wrong way on the Taconic State Parkway and collided with an SUV Eight people were killed, including Schuler, her daughter, three nieces, and three passengers in the SUV It was the worst car accident in Westchester County in nearly a century, and the filmmakers of There's Something Wrong with Aunt Diane are trying to unravel what led Schuler to make that fateful decision

The filmmakers interview Diane's family, including her husband They believe that marijuana and alcohol toxicology reports were inaccurate, even though independent investigations confirmed the addiction The series explores the possibility that past trauma and pain in Diane's life may have driven her to self-medicate While the documentary seeks to hold Diane accountable for her actions, it also shows empathy and provides background to her complex life

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From 2010 to 2020, Armie Hammer became an acclaimed Hollywood actor, appearing in The Social Network, The Man from UNCLE, and Call Me by Your Name Meanwhile, Hammer kept his family's dark secrets hidden for years; in 2021, several of Hammer's former lovers accused the actor of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse Several women spoke in detail about Hammer's abuse and provided examples of actors sharing delusions of cannibalism and leaving bite marks on women as a badge of honor [House of Hammer] shows how Armie comes from a family with a history of male abuse The series is filled with shocking revelations that make one wonder how the family was able to get away with such crimes for so many decades

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The opioid crisis has been the subject of many recent films and television shows Hulu's "Dopesick" in particular is excellent, and Netflix offers two lesser offerings: "Painkiller" and "Pain Hustlers But the best content on the opioid crisis is undoubtedly "The Crime of the Century," a documentary by acclaimed filmmaker Alex Gibney

"The Crime of the Century" is in two parts The first part focuses on Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family, who became billionaires from profits from OxyContin, one of the driving forces behind opioid abuse The second part focuses on fentanyl and its growing popularity, which has led to a sharp increase in the number of drug overdoses over the past decade It is heartbreaking to think of all the people affected by opioid abuse But "The Greatest Crime of the Century" will infuriate you even more when you learn how greedy pharmaceutical companies willingly introduced these drugs to the masses and, for the most part, were never held accountable for their harmful practices

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