Credit: Netflix

The true-crime catalogue on Netflix just opened its arms to a twisted new documentary, A Toxic Love Story, which is inevitably evolving into a must-watch this week.

The true-crime documentary unpacks a highly bizarre, high-stakes real-life case involving cyberstalking, a high-profile marriage, and a complex web of deception.

Set in a glamorous Californian suburb, A Toxic Love Story follows a newlywed couple who reportedly start receiving threatening emails from an anonymous sender, with suspicion quickly landing on the husband’s ex-fiancée. What follows next is not only shocking but also unnerving to an extent.

So, if you specifically enjoyed the twists and turns, the digital deception, and the dark relationship dynamics, here are five Netflix documentaries to watch after A Toxic Love Story.

Five Netflix documentaries to watch after A Toxic Love Story

Lover, Stalker, Killer (Sam Hobkinson, 2024)

The primary aspects of A Toxic Love Story that inevitably prey on curiosity are the online harassment and psychological games. So, if these themes specifically keep you hooked, Lover, Stalker, Killer is the must-watch companion to it. The true-crime documentary recounts a debased love triangle that evolves into a lethal nightmare. It follows auto mechanic Dave Kroupa who tries online dating, oblivious to the horror that awaits.

It all began when Kroupa started casually dating Liz Goylar in 2012, a relationship that lasted only briefly. Weeks later, he started seeing another woman, Cari Farver, in Omaha, Nebraska, and in fact, Goylar and Farver ran into each other at Kroupa’s apartment. Soon after, as shown in Lover, Stalker, Killer, Dave finds himself stalked, harassed, and terrorised for years, only to uncover a deeper web of crime driven by jealousy and vengeance.

Unknown Number: The High School Catfish (Skye Borgman, 2025)

Although a relatively recent release from Skye Borgman, Unknown Number: The High School Catfish fits the exact same mould of jaw-dropping, betrayal-heavy true crime, laced with cyberstalking tactics that will make you go, “Whaaa…?” The Netflix documentary explores the true story of Lauryn Licari and her boyfriend Owen McKenny, who became targets of relentless cyberbullying that lasted over 15 months.

With thousands of aggressive and threatening text messages pouring in daily, the investigation saw its fair share of setbacks when it became nearly impossible for the cops to trace the perpetrator in question, as the perpetrator in question constantly used burner apps. Unknown Number: The High School Catfish chronicles the extensive investigation that followed, culminating in a shocking twist: the culprit is someone really close to home.

Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare (Lyttanya Shannon, 2024)

The question at the heart of A Toxic Love Story is: who is the real villain? Subsequently, if you’re seeking documentaries that capture the same shock value and web of lies, check out Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare, currently streaming on Netflix. Tracking one of the most sophisticated online catfishing and harassment campaigns ever exposed, the 2024 documentary details the decade-long deception of London radio presenter Kirat Assi.

The chilling true story starts in 2009 when Assi receives a Facebook friend request from a man named Bobby Jandu, a cardiology assistant living in the UK and Kenya. While they eventually fell in love without even meeting each other, Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare shows how the web of romance turns out to be a deceitful trap, laid by someone, yet again, too close to home, elaborating how a sequence of fake identities can hijack someone’s life beyond repair.

American Nightmare (Yvann Yagchi and Dominic Sivyer, 2022)

The primary reason American Nightmare made it to the post-A Toxic Love Story list is that in both cases, law enforcement and authorities initially trust the wrong people, resulting in a brief miscarriage of justice. The three-part Netflix documentary revisits the 2015 story of Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn, a real-life legal nightmare that feels like a gritty psychological thriller with an unbelievable twist.

Often described as the real-life Gone Girl, American Nightmare tells the story of this couple whose home was invaded, resulting in the abduction of the woman. However, when the boyfriend reported her missing, police stubbornly refused to believe his story, in turn, accusing him of staging the entire thing. The Netflix documentary recounts the shocking true story, completely exposing institutional failure and a truth that changes everything.

The Tinder Swindler (Felicity Morris, 2022)

The final pit stop of the marathon is The Tinder Swindler, which fits the bill of grand-scale romantic deception seen in A Toxic Love Story. However, the 2022 documentary addresses the genre from the angle of an international con artist rather than domestic cyberstalking. It follows the unbelievable story of Shimon Hayut, an Israeli con artist who turned to Tinder to execute a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme, operating under a fake name.

Claiming to be the wealthy “Prince of Diamonds,” Shimon even took his matches on luxurious first dates, funded entirely by the money he stole from other victims. The Tinder Swindler details Hayut’s extensive web of deceit, betrayal, and fraud before moving into the second half and transitioning into a quest for justice- a massive expose by the victims and investigative journalists who joined forces.