Don’t F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer (2019) Review
Netflix’s break-out documentary Don’t F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer, is an investigative thriller that hangs on the idea that the best types of mysteries are ones solved through collaboration.
When a video surfaces of a man abusing his cat, members of an animal-rights group on Facebook band together to identify the culprit. The documentary follows two of the group’s members: John Green and Deanna Thomson, as they embark on a manhunt through cyberspace. Green and Thomson use every opportunity to look for things that may contribute to their mission. If they see a rug in the photo/ video, they will look for the exact design of the rug and pinpoint where it can be bought and who might have ordered it. If they see just the small details like hair color, a poster on the wall, vacuum model, the music in the background, they will find a way to piece things together.
With only three hour-long episodes, Don’t F**k with Cats is tightly composed. Every minute passing increases the risks for its subjects as if they are living on ticking time bombs. In one moment, your hopes are filled, and while in another, the burden was returned. Good entertainment puts you in the action, but this documentary puts you in an extended roller coaster-like ride. Don’t F**k with Cats is more than just a mystery. One can interpret the documentary as a study on our technological consumption, of how being validated by the medium strongly affects the way we see our physical world.
This is a very compelling documentary that wholly earned its viewership. Truly, a recommended viewing.
