Three documentaries on Netflix that revisit the most chilling abductions
No matter how much showbiz serves as an escape from reality, the real shapes the reel. So, the chances of you coming across the true-crime catalogue on Netflix are high at all times whenever you join the scroll-fest on the platform.
In essence, the true-crime catalogue is massive, complete with countless recollections of spine-chilling true stories spanning cold-blooded murders, dumbfounding missing persons cases, and hair-raising kidnappings.
But on today’s episode of what to watch next on Netflix, we’re pigeonholing our focus to abductions that still sound stranger than fiction.
While this watchlist is definitely not for the faint-hearted, if you still believe you can make it through, here are three documentaries on Netflix that revisit the most chilling abductions.
Three documentaries on Netflix that revisit the most chilling abductions
Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart (Benedict Sanderson, 2026)
Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart is a recent Netflix documentary directed by Benedict Sanderson and told by Smart that recounts the horrifying night when she was kidnapped from her bedroom at knifepoint as her young sister Mary Katherine watched in horror. It was June 5th, 2002, when 14-year-old Smart was taken away, but when authorities investigated the members of her own family, nothing shady was found. While they also probed into contractor Richard Ricci, it was Elizabeth’s sister’s recollection that proved crucial to her discovery.
Mary somehow recalled that the kidnapper was called “Emmanuel,” who would later be identified as Brian David Mitchell. But despite the breakthrough, police delayed releasing a sketch, lest he run away, which only fueled Elizabeth’s nightmares as she endured terrifying sexual abuse at the hands of Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Barzee, and was forced to accept their demands. Now, over two decades later, Elizabeth is ready to tell her story, which you can stream on Netflix with Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart.
Abducted in Plain Sight (Skye Borgman, 2017)
Abducted in Plain Sight, AKA Forever B, is yet another spine-chilling true-crime documentary on Netflix that revisits the unbelievable kidnappings of Jane Broberg, an Idaho girl who was abducted twice by her neighbour and family friend Robert Berchtold in the 1970s. The documentary details the disturbing kidnappings and Berchtold’s manipulative techniques that made the 12-year-old his victim.
Abducted in Plain Sight features interviews with Broberg, which reveal how Berchtold used psychological manipulation to convince her younger self that she must have sexual relationships with him to protect herself and her family from aliens. While the docu-film primarily sheds light on Berchtold’s unimaginable crimes, it further highlights how Broberg’s parents’ trust and infatuation with Berchtold also opened the path for exploiting their 12-year-old daughter.
Girl in the Picture (Skye Borgman, 2022)
Based on Matt Birkbeck’s books A Beautiful Child and Finding Sharon, Girl in the Picture is another true-crime documentary film on Netflix directed by Skye Borgman. The docu-film tells the true story of a young girl named Sharon Marshall, who was kidnapped by federal fugitive Franklin Delano Floyd and then raised as his own daughter.
Over the course of the next 20 years, Floyd routinely sexually assaulted Marshall, forced her to work as a stripper, and even coerced her into marrying her. She tragically passed away in a hit-and-run accident in 1990 under mysterious circumstances, and Girl in the Picture captures the events that followed afterwards as Birkbeck, the National Centre for Missing & Exploited Children, and the FBI work to piece together her real identity.