True crime documentaries – especially those that focus on either serial killers or grisly individual murders – have become so popular that it’s borderline uncomfortable. Anything that features a deep dive account of something so horrific you can barely look away is guaranteed to play like gangbusters among subscribers to any streaming service, with Netflix’s Missing: The Lucie Blackman Case the latest example.
Per FlixPatrol, the haunting exploration of the events leading up to, during, and after the brutal slaying of the 21 year-old air hostess in Tokyo has debuted as the third most-watched feature-length title on the streaming service’s global viewership charts, by way of taking a Top 10 spot in 52 countries globally.
Blackman moved to Japan in order to spend a year exploring the country, only to vanish just three weeks later without a trace. If there’s such a thing as spoilers regarding events that dominated the headlines, then consider yourself warned that seven months later her body was found severely decomposed, with her head shaven and encased in concrete.
If that wasn’t distressing enough, the investigation led the authorities directly to Joji Obara, a serial rapist who assaulted hundreds of women that was eventually charged, acquitted, and then found guilty of abducting, dismembering, and disposing of Blackman’s remains.
There’s an unsavory element of cases like this one being turned into mass entertainment by a multi-billion dollar streaming service for the benefit of paying customers around the world, but rest assured that The Lucie Blackman Case won’t be the last time Netflix plays in this particular arena.