Credit: Netflix

You’ll think you have seen every kind of true-crime story by now, won’t you? Netflix literally showers the fans with gut-wrenching documentaries and adaptations every now and then. You’ve got the shocking ones, the twisted ones, the ones that feel almost too strange to be real. And then you come across Husband, Father, Killer: The Alyssa Pladl Story, and all we can say about it is… It’s just different. The only thought that will occupy your mind is how this even got this far.

Be warned, because this movie will turn your stomach. It’s not confusing. And what director Elisabeth Röhm has done going out of the way is present it in a non-puzzle-like way. It’s a straightforward movie, and that’s what will catch you off guard.

Released in the year 2024, Husband, Father, Killer: The Alyssa Pladl Story follows the real-life story of Alyssa Pladl and the man at the centre of it all, Steven Pladl. The story goes back years, to when Alyssa was still very young and in a relationship with Steven. And there is a clear imbalance there with age, control, basically everything.

Now this woman ends up having a child with him, and because of how unstable and unhealthy the situation is, that child is placed for adoption. For a moment, you might think that’s where things break off, where life gives her a second chance.

Well, it doesn’t. Years later, that same child who is now a grown woman reaches out to her, wanting to reconnect. And that’s where things take a massive turn. Steven comes back into the picture, and instead of acting like a father, he manipulates the situation in a very wrong way. What happens afterwards is not just inappropriate; it’s criminal.

Now, we are warning you that we have got spoilers ahead, and if you don’t want to interact with them, you’ve got to stream it.

Another shocking part about the real story, which ended in 2018, is that Steven Pladl went on to kill his daughter, their infant child, and her adoptive father before taking his own life. And even when you know that while watching the movie, every scene still punches you in the gut. At this point, you are not waiting for a twist but watching things move towards something you already know is coming.

Now, the movie hasn’t overdone itself, and thank God for that, because it really doesn’t need to. It majorly focuses on Alyssa’s side of things rather than turning it into a sensational crime story. You can see things escalating in real time, but you can’t do anything.

Performance-wise, Jackie Cruz has done a decent job playing Alyssa. What has worked in her favour are the small reactions, like the discomfort or the hesitation, she has done a good job portraying. Matthew MacCaull, playing Steven, is very disturbing.

And the reason why this movie is finding an audience on Netflix right now is that true crime lately has gone a bit over the top, hasn’t it? Everything’s so perfectly designed to keep you entertained that it loses its true essence. This film doesn’t do that. It just tells you what happened and trusts that the story itself is enough.

So if you’re in the mood for something this week and you don’t want the usual overproduced, over-explained true-crime stuff, this is the one to watch.