Don't F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer

Don't F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer
Promotional release poster
Genre
Written byMark Lewis
Directed byMark Lewis
ComposerAndrew Skeet
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes3
Production
Executive producers
  • Dimitri Doganis
  • Adam Hawkins
  • Jonny Taylor
  • Alexander Van Nguyen
Producers
  • Felicity Morris
  • Simon Mills
CinematographyStefano Ferrari
Editors
  • Henry Adkin
  • Michael Harte
  • Bjorn Johnson
Running time57–66 minutes
Production companyRaw TV
Original release
NetworkNetflix
ReleaseDecember 18, 2019 (2019-12-18)

Don't F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer is a 2019 true crime docuseries about an online manhunt.[1] It is written and directed by Mark Lewis[2] and was released on Netflix on December 18, 2019.[1][3] The series chronicles events following a crowd-sourced amateur investigation into a series of animal cruelty acts committed by Canadian pornographic actor Luka Magnotta, culminating in his murder of Jun Lin, a student from China who was studying at Concordia University. It was one of Netflix's Top 5 most-watched documentaries of 2019.[4]

Premise

The three-part docuseries follows a group of amateur internet sleuths who launched a manhunt for Luka Magnotta after he gained international notoriety in 2010 for sharing a video online of himself killing two kittens in a plastic bag by suffocating them with a vacuum cleaner.[1][5] Magnotta was later convicted for murdering Jun Lin in grisly circumstances in 2012.[6][7]

Early investigation

The series started with Deanna Thompson, a data analyst for a casino in Las Vegas, and John Green, from Los Angeles.[5] In 2010, a viral video called 1 boy 2 kittens was linked on Facebook and posted on YouTube. The video shows a man playing with two kittens before he puts them in a very tight vacuum seal bag and vacuums out the air, suffocating the kittens. Thompson and Green subsequently started a Facebook group to build evidence and find the perpetrator. The group worked together to examine the details of the video, including the objects in the room, to help solve the mystery.

Cast

Cast Role Episodes
John Green Himself 3 episodes
Deanna Thompson Herself—aka "Baudi Moovan" 3 episodes
Det. Sgt. Claudette Hamlin Herself—Montreal Police, Homicide 2 episodes
Antonio Paradiso Himself—Montreal Police, Homicide 2 episodes
Anna Yourkin Herself—Luka Magnotta's mother 2 episodes
Benjamin Xu Himself—Jun Lin's best friend 2 episodes
Marc Lilge Himself—Berlin Police 2 episodes
Mike Nadeau Himself—Janitor 1 episode
Joe Panz Himself—Rescue Ink 1 episode
Joe Warmington Himself—Journalist, Toronto Sun 1 episode
Henri Himself—Undercover Detective Fugitive Task Force 1 episode
Romeo Salta Himself—Attorney 1 episode
Kadir Anlayisli Himself—Internet cafe employee 1 episode
Joel Watts Himself—Defense psychiatrist 1 episode

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal release date
1"Cat and Mouse"Mark LewisMark LewisDecember 18, 2019 (2019-12-18)
A shocking online video brings together a widespread internet group of animal lovers out for justice. Their target, meanwhile, has more horrors planned.
2"Killing for Clicks"Mark LewisMark LewisDecember 18, 2019 (2019-12-18)
A new video pushes panic to the next level, galvanizing the "internet nerds" to intensify their own painstaking investigation as police join the hunt.
3"Closing the Net"Mark LewisMark LewisDecember 18, 2019 (2019-12-18)
With the killer's identity – and twisted motives – revealed, the group finds more key clues as the global police manhunt reaches a fever pitch.

Reception

Two weeks after its debut, the docuseries became one of Netflix's Top 5 most-watched documentaries of 2019.[4] On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the series has a 67% approval rating, based on 12 reviews, with an average rating of 8.3/10. The website's consensus reads, "Don't F**k With Cats offers an intriguing tale, but questionable intent and muddled storytelling make it a hard sell for anyone but true crime completists."[8]

Accolades

Year Award Category Nominee(s) Result Ref.
2020 British Academy Television Awards Best Factual Series or Strand Mark Lewis, Felicity Morris, Michael Harte and Dimitri Doganis Nominated [9]
British Academy Television Craft Awards Best Director: Factual Mark Lewis Nominated
Best Editing: Factual Michael Harte Won
Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Program Mark Lewis (for "Closing the Net") Won [10]

Impact

In the trial for the 2021 murder of Jorge Martin Carreno, prosecutors provided video and audio evidence of the defendant, Scarlet Blake, livestreaming the killing and dissecting of a cat, with the New Order song "True Faith" playing in the background; they said the defendant's use of the song was in homage to the docuseries Don't F*** With Cats.[11] Blake was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder. At her sentencing hearing, Mr Justice Chamberlain told Blake "[the] documentary played a part in your own mind in the link between killing a cat and killing a person."[12]

Deanna Thompson, one of the lead presenters of the docuseries, later appeared as a contestant on the seventh season of The Mole in 2024.[13]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Kanter, Jake (2019-11-20). "'Gold Rush' Producer Raw TV Wins First Netflix Commission With Documentary On Canadian Killer Luka Magnotta". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 2019-11-24.
  2. ^ Netflix’s Don’t F**k With Cats Documentary Does So Much Wrong – ScreenRant
  3. ^ "Documentary series on online hunt for Luka Magnotta coming to Netflix". Montreal. 2019-11-20. Retrieved 2019-11-24.
  4. ^ a b Oldham, Stuart (2020-01-27). "'Don't F**k With Cats': Deanna Thompson and Director Mark Lewis Reflect on Their Creepy Netflix Series". Variety. Retrieved 2020-06-20.
  5. ^ a b "Stream It Or Skip It: 'Don't F**k With Cats: Hunting An Internet Killer' On Netflix, A Docuseries About An Attention-Seeking Murderer Who Ticked Off The Wrong People". Decider. 2019-12-18. Retrieved 2019-12-19.
  6. ^ "Netflix To Release True Crime Documentary On Canadian Killer Luka Magnotta". www.ladbible.com. 23 November 2019. Retrieved 2019-11-24.
  7. ^ "Netflix Is Releasing A True Crime Docuseries On Canadian Murderer Luka Magnotta". www.narcity.com. 20 November 2019. Retrieved 2019-11-24.
  8. ^ "Don't F**K with Cats: Hunting An Internet Killer: Limited Series". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  9. ^ "BAFTA TV 2020: Winners of the Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards and British Academy Television Craft Awards". BAFTA. 3 June 2020. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  10. ^ "72nd Emmy Awards Nominees and Winners". Emmys. July 28, 2020. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  11. ^ "Cat killer Scarlet Blake found guilty of murdering Jorge Martin Carreno". BBC News. BBC. 23 February 2024. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
  12. ^ Ford, Emily; Da Costa, Katharine (26 February 2024). "Cat killer Scarlet Blake jailed for Netflix show-inspired murder". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  13. ^ Hines, Ree (June 28, 2024). "'The Mole' Season 2 cast: Who they are and where to find them online". Today. Retrieved June 28, 2024.