Felicity Morris, director of Netflix's American Nightmare, revealed at the Reality TV Summit UK that the docuseries would have been made very differently a decade ago.
The key difference: the focus would have shifted toward the perpetrator rather than the victim. "The shift has been real," Morris said, describing how the true crime documentary landscape has transformed its priorities in recent years.
American Nightmare, which Morris co-directed, centers on the experiences of those who survived. A decade ago, true crime documentaries were preoccupied with the criminal's perspective, the motivations, the psychology of the perpetrator. Current audiences and filmmakers are demanding something different: the humanity, resilience, and agency of survivors.
Morris's comments arrive as streaming platforms face increasing scrutiny over how they handle sensitive true crime content. Netflix has positioned victim-first storytelling as central to its documentary strategy, a shift from the perpetrator-focused sensationalism that once dominated the genre.
This is not unique to Netflix. Morris's assessment suggests a broader cultural shift in how audiences and creators approach stories about real crimes and real trauma. The survivor's story has become the main event.
