Netflix’s True-Crime Boom Continues: “Amy Bradley Is Missing” and “Son of Sam Tapes” Dominate Charts
The true-crime genre continues to thrive on Netflix, as two new gripping titles — Amy Bradley Is Missing and Conversations with a Killer: The Son of Sam Tapes — have surged into the platform’s top ten most-watched shows this week.
Amy Bradley Is Missing: A Disappearance That Still Haunts
Landing at #3 in Netflix’s TV rankings, Amy Bradley Is Missing has captivated audiences worldwide, garnering 4.2 million views this week alone. Over its first three weeks, the three-part docuseries has racked up a staggering 26.2 million views, after a powerful 12.2M debut and a solid 10.2M second week.
The documentary, produced by Ample Entertainment and directed by Ari Mark and Phil Lott, reopens the cold case of 23-year-old Amy Bradley, who vanished mysteriously from a cruise ship in 1998. Despite suspicions that she may have fallen overboard, no body was ever recovered, fueling decades of theories — from possible trafficking, to voluntary escape, to foul play involving an onboard entertainer, Alister “Yellow” Douglas.
“Every single person who worked on this was conflicted about what happened to Amy,” said Mark. “That sort of whiplash made this particularly surprising.”
Conversations with a Killer: The Son of Sam Tapes
At #4 on the charts with 3.4M views, this chilling installment in the acclaimed Conversations with a Killer strand revisits the David Berkowitz case — the infamous “Son of Sam” killer who terrorized New York City in the late 1970s.
Directed by Joe Berlinger, the series offers never-before-heard recordings that take viewers deep into the mind of Berkowitz and the massive NYPD manhunt that ensued. The series joins previous hits in the strand such as The Ted Bundy Tapes, The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes, and The John Wayne Gacy Tapes.
“Once that first show was a hit, then it was a floodgate,” Berlinger told Deadline.
True-Crime’s Explosive Popularity on Netflix
These new titles build on the overwhelming success of earlier hits like:
-
American Murder: Gabby Petito (56M views)
See More ...
-
Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer (21.9M views)
-
Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story (20.2M views)
-
American Manhunt: The Bin Laden Story (36.6M views)
Netflix’s true-crime strategy has proven both cost-effective and immensely popular, as the genre consistently outperforms many scripted dramas. The streamer’s latest engagement report revealed that these documentaries rank among the most-watched titles across the platform.
As Netflix aptly put it:
“Crime never sleeps.”
