There's a brand new addition to Netflix's 'true crime' catalogue that has sent millions of viewers into a horrified frenzy - and everyone is saying the same thing after bingeing it.
This chilling three-part docu-series follows the nerve-shattering story of the 'real Gone Girl'.
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We are, of course, talking about American Nightmare - which dropped onto the streaming service yesterday (17 Jan) after months of anticipation.
And for readers who haven't yet been swallowed up by the streaming service's torturous tale of kidnap, drugs, rape and astonishing levels of police neglect, please be warned: spoilers lie ahead...
Check out the trailer below:
The show centres on couple Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn who were woken up at their home in California in the middle of the night by intruders wearing wetsuits, who tied up, blindfolded and drugged the pair, before taking Denise.
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Having been being sedated, Aaron telephoned the police the next day to inform them she'd been kidnapped for ransom.
After some intense questioning, investigating officers told him the story resembled that told in 2014 blockbuster Gone Girl, and labelled him the prime suspect after it transpired that he'd exchanged messages with his ex.
In a plot twist similar to that featuring in the critically-acclaimed crime drama however, a missing Denise unexpectedly reappeared three days later near her mother's home in Huntington Beach.
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Denise corroborated her boyfriend's claims about the kidnap, and recalled being taken in the trunk of a car to a remote cabin where she was further drugged and tragically raped before being released.
Despite her harrowing recollection, police became even more suspicious over the pair's story, and in turn, Aaron and Denise's claims earned several comparisons to the best-selling Gillian Flynn novel and famously intense movie, which tells the story of a woman who faked her own kidnapping to frame her cheating husband.
Instead of hunting down the man that had harmed Denise - who, as the final episode explains, is finally caught following another crime a year later - the documentary shows officers initially branding her story a 'hoax'.
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In a press conference at the time, Vallejo police Lt. Kenny Park stated: "If anything, it is Miss Huskins who owes this community an apology."
They even attempted to prosecute the couple for lying to the police and wasting their time.
In the end, police tracked down perpetrator Matthew Muller - an ex-Marine and disbarred immigration attorney - who subsequently pleaded guilty in 2016 to one count of federal kidnapping.
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Muller was sentenced to 40 years in prison, and faced additional state charges of rape by force, robbery and burglary.
In November 2020, however, he was found mentally incompetent to stand trial.
Denise and Aaron successfully sued the Vallejo Police Department, in turn securing a $2.5m settlement and an apology.
While many claimed Netflix lived up to its impressive reputation as a master of riveting true crime documentaries, the majority of online viewers claimed the real horror of this haunting tale was the behaviour of the authorities.
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"I just finished American Nightmare on Netflix and I am in a complete state of shock," one viewer penned on X this week.
Hitting out at the authorities, another wrote: "I’m sorry but the fact that the chief of the Vallejo police told the man leading the press conference to 'burn that b***h' is disgusting like how much of a disgusting human being can you be?!"
"OMG This documentary makes me want to choke the life out of these lazy ass cops !!! This is a perfect example of why victims don’t come out and speak ! Fear of being prosecuted or drug through the mud," a third tweeted.
Another went on: "The true American nightmare wasn’t even the kidnapping, it was having to deal with the police"
Topics: True Crime, Crime, Netflix, TV And Film
Rhianna Benson