Confronting A Serial Killer (2021) User Reviews

interesting but

[JonanthanNewOrleans · 7/10 · 14 July 2021]

The narrator (Jilian Lauren) is way too narcissist , always talking about herself and always having her husband talking about her and their private life.

Also the ending is abrupt as hell.

Copy Cat Documentary

[roxyangelkisses · 6/10 · 24 June 2021]

This documentary tried very hard to replicate "I'll Be Gone in the Dark" both in content and by its left wanting authoress. Sam Little came across as prolific as Henry Lee Lucas and his 400 murder confessions that went nowhere. 93 murders really? I heard like maybe 10 proven... where are the 93 at?

Jillian Lauren was creepy. She faked emotions. She was not believable at all. She constantly faked tears. She told the same stories over and over again. Basically using the script from Michelle McNamara's own writing and made it sound the same. She even uses the same kind of voice when speaking.

Her relationship with Sam Little is sick and twisted on both her side and his side. Yes, do what you have to do get information about the death of victims but come on when do you realize the lies have started and he is playing you! This documentary came off poorly made and executed. It was extremely long and repetitive. It could have been done in 1 episode really. Then we wouldn't have had to hear Jillian Lauren and Sam Little tell the same stories 6 times. It was a bad copy cat of the real thing Michelle McNamara's HBO "I'll be Gone in the Dark" the documentary.

Documentary-ish, but with lots of problems...

[JussiAPelkonen-1 · 7/10 · 5 July 2022]

A documentary on a contemporary serial killer should have the focus solely on the killer himself. It now seemed that Jillian Lauren hadn't a clear vision on this series beforehand.

The first three episodes are quite balanced in Little's and Lauren's contribution, although Lauren gets to tell all her problems and wicked ways as a youngster. Despite of that, I got much more information on Little's "career". - I am a European, so I knew the name of Little, but not much about his whole list of murders.

In the fourth episode Little gets somewhat forgotten and the focus begins to be on Lauren. - The quest to give "Alice" an identity seems to be quite unimportant with all the search for the exact location of the body found!

The most important thing is that "Alice" was identified and the murder thus solved. Her relatives weren't asked about their feelings after the murdered was exposed after c. 25 years.

Jillian Lauren has done a lot of important work in making this documentary, but she definitely didn't hit the spot information-wise...

Advertisement for a book.

[stubbyray-88238 · 1/10 · 11 May 2021]

Jillian Lauren may be a good writer, but she really excels at blowing smoke up her own ass.

Self Congratulatory, Narcissistic Garbage

[andersdmoney-299-324496 · 1/10 · 11 May 2021]

There are times when the show dips its toe in the water of genuine interest, but before it can get fully immersed in the subject at hand, the viewer is unceremoniously yanked back into Jillian Lauren's bubble of self importance. If she's not feigning exhaustion for a strategically placed, time lapse office shot, she'll be recounting how everything (and I DO mean EVERYTHING) makes her feel. I've watched 4 episodes because I am a completist idiot, and I am now planning to make my own docu-series, where I intend to examine, at length, how THIS show has given me PTSD. Avoid.

Great series

[ChastainCruz · 8/10 · 8 September 2021]

I saw some of the reviews on this page before watching the series and came back because I totally disagree. Folks are saying that the film is self-serving toward Jillian Lauren who is self-centered. I watched it and empathized with her and the responsibility of the role she'd taken on. She approached the killer so she could write a book and he opened up to her and gave her information that could answer questions for a lot of families of unidentified victims - how could she walk away from the responsibility that access gave her? The series circles back to the emotional toll it had on her - being the confidant of a serial killer who called her baby, said he loved her and wanted to kill her. That's some soul crushing stuff and it deserves to be the series.

Jillian Lauren made this about herself

[carrionflies · 1/10 · 14 July 2021]

I only made an account to give this one star. Jillian Lauren takes an interesting little known investigative story and forces herself into the tragedy of others, parades her family in front of the camera, edits in samples of herself speaking to appear powerful in phone conversations, claims she solved a cold case when all she did was hear a confession, and probably huffs her own farts. I wish I could un-watch this arrogant trash, and not have to know such an egotistical putz has this kind of agency.

Watch the whole thing....

[templadavis · 9/10 · 10 September 2021]

I found myself reminiscing about "I'll Be Gone in the Dark" while watching this. However, this is nothing like it. I also noticed people commenting that this series is a commercial for Jillian's book, it is not. Im touched by Jillian's journey, although it is horrifying. She is doing EXACTLY what should have been done years ago for every single woman that this man killed and for the women who survived. This is not an easy thing for anyone to do and I felt it through her story. I feel the loss and pain. I feel the injustice and sadness. Do not listen to people who can't see the hard work of a woman for women.

Jillian Show

[simbatopcat · 1/10 · 11 May 2021]

Absolutely terrible it's all about her and not the victims!

This chick is the most self centred person alive

[yougottamakeithappen-576-400284 · 1/10 · 27 August 2021]

Cool though I'd watch a series about serial killers, I thought.

Little did I know its just this woman with vocal fry and the most annoying cadence possible talking about herself

Absolutely appalling.

would be so much better if she focused on the killer

[tsupra22 · 4/10 · 5 May 2021]

She spends 60% talking about herself instead of thy killer.

We get it, you have issues and relate. It's enough in the 1st episode. Focus on what the audience is interested in... the killer and not her.

An important documentary

[jonnaramirez · 9/10 · 20 July 2021]

Let me start off by saying that I loved this documentary and I think everything it stands for is important.

After watching the first episode, I sat with some feelings of uncertainty because the POV was so clearly intertwining the victims experiences with Jillian's experiences. I wasn't sure if this whole thing would be clouded with Jillian's possible white savior complex. BUT, I'm reallllly glad that I stuck with it.

After a few episodes, I felt like my suspicion that this documentary only existed to fuel her ego completely melted away, and honestly found myself really grateful that she did bring such a strong perspective that was based off of her own story. That's the entire point! The point IS that while these women suffered the ultimate brutality, violence against women exists everyone and in so many ways. Nobody wanted to fight for these women, nobody deemed their lives valuable enough to actually see their humanity. And not only does Jillian go out of her way to hold space in her heart for them, but she advocates for them. She tells their stories. And she tells her story to show us that she easily could have been one of those women. She illustrates how the women who died at the hands of this monster could have been anyone of us who weren't important enough to fight for.

I'm really thankful that this story is told through the lens of a woman.

Terrible storytelling

[lrhassenger-02802 · 1/10 · 15 May 2021]

Got tired of hearing author's story. Stick to the victims. They went unnoticed and unseen by everyone.

Such a huge task also emotionally by Jillian Lauren

[anitabellabella · 9/10 · 18 May 2022]

I have just finished watching the whole series, and I must say wow!! What a job to put on your self especially emotionally, both on Jillian but also her lovely family, a husband who is behind her all the way and totally grasps and accept the importance of the task she has put on her self, in order to name as many of Mr Littles victims as possible! My heart goes out to the families of these victims, I can't even begin to imagine their pain. I have read a lot of the other reviews of this series, and it is obvious to me, that your reviews are very shallow indeed. I can only feel sorry for the individual, who has not yet grasped the enormously consequences to the author Jillian Lauren, when she has to talk to this horrendous serial killer and push normal reactions aside in order to get the most out of this "privileged" situation she has obtained, and has to listen to his obscured words again and again. A huge thank you to this young and brave woman for helping the law imforcement to solve murders of poor women, for their family!

A little more killer and a lot less of the doc maker, please!

[seanalistairdavies · 1/10 · 8 May 2021]

Her cringeworthy overacting and narration is at times unbearable. Also constant interjecting herself into the story is so annoying. Only able to get through two episodes realizing I'd rather be watching a rerun of Dateline.

Is this about Sam Little or Jillian Lauren

[miss-sussex · 4/10 · 3 May 2021]

These two people are seperate entities on different parts of the spectrum however in the 3 episodes I have watch I learned more about Jillian. This miniseries is supposed to be about Sam Little . If you would like to know more about Jillian then watch but Starz really drop the soap here. They got screwed out of a good crime docuseries.

I turned it off after 2 and a half episodes

[alexandriabaltazar · 1/10 · 24 May 2021]

The author literally talked about her self so much it was so annoying. Like I get it you can relate, but you were not one of his victims so STFU, let them share their stories. She cries like almost every time she is on camera because "it could have been me! Waaaahh!" It totally took away from the rest of the show. It is incredibly disrespectful of his victims. Ew.

Pretty difficult to make it through.

[kh-17438 · 10/10 · 2 May 2021]

I don't understand Mr. Little's companion who cleaned his car. What in the world happened to this poor soul to make her stay with such a man and where in the world were her people?

Shameless Self-Promoter and Exploiter

[xyxxxxxx · 1/10 · 20 July 2021]

Spoiled little rich girl's effort at self-promotion while exploiting the victims and families of this subhuman monster. Basically gives the murderer exactly what he craves. A platform to have all attention and focus on him while she coddles him into sharing "his story". How dare she compare her past experiences with these murdered woman who were born into poverty and didn't even have a chance. She spent more time focused on her and her hipster outfits than all the victims combined. It actually made me physically sick and had to turn it off.

The story of Jillian Lauren, with some thoughts on a serial killer or something.

[screamingfish · 2/10 · 22 September 2021]

I'm trying desperately to make it through the series, but 4 episodes in and we've barely touched on the subject of Samuel Little or his victims. Every new detail brought up is derailed with a story about Jillian Lauren, and then when it veers back on topic, it just repeats what it had already stated before moving onto something new. It literally never delves into the case beyond a simple mention of the victims and a vague few words from the killer that we're never even sure accurately reflect the crimes, all of it followed up with more about Jillian.

Self-serving and nothing else...

[rippleleena · 1/10 · 24 May 2021]

Her narcissistic grandstanding has done nothing positive for the 60 victims' families, the authorities or us viewers. 'Confronting A Serial Killer' was exploitive of her and serial killer, Sam Little! Her's was for money and his was to relive all of his murders before he died in prison.

Don't waste your time watching these four self-serving episodes, because I've already done it for you!!!

Could have been better

[TV_Ninja · 4/10 · 29 December 2021]

Could have been really good as the serial killer gives his account of the murders but too much of the documentary is about the film maker who tries to portray that she's so empathetic but it all seems disingenuous.

The focus is on the doc maker. Feels repugnant.

[Opinate · 1/10 · 3 May 2021]

This is a low-rent serial killer doc that is holds no real insights and is poorly researched.

It's more about Jillian Lauren, the writer/actress doc maker who visits the killer in jail to try to pry a story out of him, her feelings about him, her past (she alludes to having been a victim), her crappy art (grade-school quality murky portraits of the victims of this monster), her excuses for spending so much effort on a serial killer, and attempts to reconcile the fact that she is giving a vicious monster the exposure he craves by making this doc. It feels highly creepy and not in a good way.

She goes on a search to retrace his steps, citing his descriptions of the victims, seeing them through the eyes of their killer. It feels disgusting and exploitative.

Michael Connelly shows up in ep 4 but I notice he doesn't have a credit on IMDB for this mess?

I watch serial killer docs to garner some insight into the mind of the monster from a psychological point of view, to understand how humans become monsters, and to gain more perspective on spotting sociopaths and psychopaths. This doc series feels a little Jillian Lauren is using this killer to get a TV deal just as he is using her to reexamine his disgusting crimes. It is not coming from a well-researched or intelligent or weighty point of view that the subject deserves so it feels repugnant.

Author full of herself

[mwalton81 · 1/10 · 24 September 2021]

This seemed to be more about the "author", who I have never heard of and her wanting to appear like she is doing this because she cares. I agree with the reviewer that called her narcissistic and said that she was grandstanding. I'd skip this as it is not worth watching.

Jillian's Shadow & Self Promotion

[fin-123-472581 · 2/10 · 1 June 2021]

This was a very frustrating viewing experience if you are watching with an intent of finding out more about Samuel Little, his motivations and his victims.

Having read all the reviews to-date, all of which express the same frustration, I too am unfortunately left with the same disappointment.

One should be leaving a review discussing her relentless pursuit in uncovering Little's motivations, secrets, his victims and the details surrounding his evasion up to his incarceration.

Also, the systematic judicial/enforcement failings stemming from social indifference towards the victims, due to their social & economic backgrounds.

They were mere shadows and in the main, still remain so.

There is one particulate section in the last episode when Jillian & her husband are going through some of her old storage boxes containing diaries that had nothing to do with anything other than to self-promote her previous book & simultaneously plug her husband's band/old album which 'happened' to be in one of the boxes...

That isn't a spoiler as it had nothing to do with Samuel Little nor his victims. Frankly, I found it to be in poor taste at best.

Someday I hope someone covers Samuel Little & the details behind his heinous deeds.