Can I Tell You A Secret? is a docuseries directed by Liza Williams. A two-part documentary on cyberbullying is available on Netflix.
Several girls share their experiences, both personal and professional, through social media. One day, they start receiving strange messages from strangers claiming to know everything about them. After creating a fake account, the perpetrator pretended to be one of the girls and contacted someone close to them. This was not an isolated case, as the stalker used multiple fake accounts on the internet, pretending to be different people in order to harass and terrorize the victims and their loved ones.
“Can I Tell You A Secret?” is a true crime documentary divided into two 50-minute episodes, featuring testimonies from these girls who were cyberbullied by someone using various fake identities to terrorize them.
About the True Crime Documentary Genre
If you’ve never watched a true crime documentary, this is a prime example: it is a genre that uses various cinematic techniques to heighten the horror of the events, going beyond the documentary itself and creating a cinematic narrative that, while based on real events, can sometimes feel more like fiction than a documentary. But, as the creators know, by playing on the fact that everything they tell is true and often featuring testimonies from the victims themselves.
“Can I Tell You A Secret?” is a perfect example of the good and the bad of this genre: it manages to captivate because the story is real and terrifying, and it does so by behaving like a horror film, concealing the stalker’s identity to create suspense, using scary music, and employing shots and situations to constantly keep the viewer on edge.
A documentary that lies? Not at all, it uses cinematic storytelling throughout, blending film and reality, and seeks to impress and terrorize the viewer with a terrifying story that will leave an impression. And as we all know, true crime generates thousands of views and has fans all over the world, no matter how much we may criticize it.
About the Documentary
“Can I Tell You A Secret?” is perfectly in line with its intentions: it creates suspense, has a shocking story to terrify us, and does so directly because, dear viewers, we came here to feel afraid of reality. It makes us feel fear, it provokes us constantly, and the story is terrible, making us want to close our social media accounts and pray to a higher power to prevent someone from impersonating us and ruining our lives.
A documentary that knows how to create panic, that knows how to frighten and use everything it has to create fear beyond the story it tells and make us realize that “it could happen to you too.”
A warning, almost apocalyptic in its social implications: no matter how much you try to run, you cannot escape the fact that someone may impersonate you and contact your family and friends.
Our Opinion
Consider yourselves warned: viewers know what they are getting into, and this genre produces a mix of fascination and terror by turning a terrifying reality into a fictional film.
Where to Watch “Can I Tell You A Secret?”
Matthew Hardy: Britain’s Worst Cyberstalker Evading Justice for Years
Cyberstalking is a growing concern in today’s digital age, and one case that shocked the nation was that of Matthew Hardy, Britain’s worst cyberstalker. For over a decade, Hardy terrorized countless women, leaving a trail of devastation in his wake. Despite being known to the police and even prosecuted multiple times, it took an astonishingly long time for him to be brought to justice. In this article, we delve into the chilling story of Matthew Hardy, examining how he managed to evade the law for so long and the impact he had on his victims’ lives. Read more
