The five best Netflix shows based on real killers
There’s something irresistibly alluring about the shows on Netflix that come with the prefix of “based on a true story,” particularly when it concerns the world of true crime. If you search a bit thoroughly through the library, you’ll stumble upon quite a few projects based on real serial killers, including movies, series, and documentaries.
But on today’s to-do list for the Netflix subscribers, Best of Netflix is pigeonholing the focus to five fictional Netflix series based on real-life serial killers to save you from the delirium of selections.
The concept of a true story is tied to the horrors of a lived reality. As a result, whenever Netflix teases something from the sphere of true crime, the anticipation goes through the roof. Although apprehensions persist surrounding reckless glorification and sugar-coated reenactments, these serial killer shows on Netflix manage to turn the tables on those worries.
So, if you are someone who doesn’t throw up at the thought of real killers who don’t just kill but terrorise with their crimes, this one’s for you.
The five best Netflix shows based on real killers
Ratched (Evan Romansky, 2020)
Doctors and nurses are like the messengers of god, who the mortals depend on every step of their lives. But what happens when one of them becomes the harbinger of doom instead? Ratched on Netflix tracks the origin of nurse Mildred Ratched before the events portrayed in Milos Forman’s 1975 film One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, based on Ken Kesey’s 1962 novel.
The psychological thriller takes place in 1984 Northern California, in contrast to Oregon, where Ratched arrives in hopes of getting employed at one of the leading psychiatric hospitals. Although she appears determined to remain dedicated to the betterment of the mental health care system, it’s best not to judge a book by its cover, as she holds unsettling motivations and a secret mission close to her chest.
Monster: The Ed Gein Story (Ian Brennan and Ryan Murphy, 2025)
Ever since Netflix launched the Monster anthology series, viewers have learnt to confront the hard truths of life, whether it’s the existence and carnage of Jeffrey Dahmer or the Menendez Brothers. But The Ed Gein Story, which serves as the third and the latest instalment of the series, is proof alone that no matter what, we’re never really truly prepared for the pedigree of man-made monsters.
Monster: The Ed Gein Story takes viewers back into the 1970s Wisconsin that saw the birth of the titular character, who terrorised the community with his streak of murders and grave robberies, using his victims’ skin to make furniture and household objects. Gein also disturbingly made a huge impact in Hollywood and pop culture, resulting in Psycho, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and The Silence of the Lambs.
Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, 2022)
Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story is where it all started for Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s hit anthology Netflix series. The biographical crime drama focuses on serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer and his rise in America as one of the most fearsome murderers with a horrifying streak. His criminal footprints ranged from Bath Township, Ohio, to West Allis, Wisconsin and Milwaukee from 1978 to 1991.
Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story sheds light on his notorious impact through reenactments of the events leading up to his arrest and conviction. In fact, the Netflix show remains one of the most-watched titles of all time, currently ranking fourth on the charts.
The Dead Girls (Luis Estrada, 2025)
Based on Jorge Ibargüengoitia’s Mexican novel, Las muertas, The Dead Girls tells the story of the Baladro sisters from the 1960s, who had become mainstays in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. The limited series revolves around their vicious business plan of turning a local bar into a brothel, which ends up bloody for the young girls forced to engage in sex work.
While their desperation to throw dust in the eyes of law enforcement made them travel the extra mile, their revenge plot gone south doesn’t exactly keep the cops from knocking on their doors, leaving Mexico to confront a true crime story that haunts them for generations now.
Mindhunter (Joe Penhall, 2017-2019)
Mindhunter is one of those Netflix series everyone wished the streamer hadn’t cancelled. And although it did the unthinkable, the psychological crime thriller series remains one of the most noteworthy offerings of the genre. The Netflix show tracks FBI agents Holden Ford, Bill Tench, and psychologist Wendy Carr, who formed the FBI’s Behavioural Science Unit in Quantico, Virginia.
Mindhunter revolves around the project they launched together as a team to interview the serial killers to get insight into their psyches, hoping the revelations, regardless of how unsettling and disturbing, come in handy to solve the notorious cases that constantly come their way. The series focuses on infamous serial killers, including Ted Bundy, Montie Rissell, Jerry Brudos, and Dennis Rader, who is also the subject of Netflix’s latest documentary, My Father, the BTK Killer.