While the true crime documentary fever has mostly died down over the past decade or so, the zeitgeist seems to have largely moved on to dramatized series that offer a fictionalized perspective of high-profile criminal tales. The most recent streamer to add one of those pieces to its catalog is Hulu, with the release of the first two episodes of The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox. Set to feature a total of eight episodes, the miniseries, starring Grace Van Patten as the titular Knox, centers around the story of a young American woman wrongfully convicted for the murder of her British roommate during her study abroad year in Italy. The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox recounts these events through the lens of one of its protagonists: Amanda herself. Acting as both writer and executive producer, Knox purports to present to viewers her own take on how things went down. However, she kind of already did that in 2016, in Netflix’s documentary, <em>Amanda Knox</em>.

Surrounding the murder of Meredith Kercher in 2007 in the city of Perugia, Knox’s case became infamous both for the conduct of Italian authorities and the media coverage that ensued, specifically around Knox herself. Considering how full of twists and turns the real story already is, The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox is, indeed, interesting to watch, even if the show does present some events as way too quirky and fantastic for the seriousness of what happened, all while also forgetting to honor the memory of the actual victim. However, if the goal is to understand the brutal murder of Meredith Kercher and the bizarre investigation that followed, it might be best to skip Hulu’s miniseries and take a look at Netflix instead.

‘Amanda Knox’ Features Interviews with Key Figures in the Case

Directed by Rod Blackhurst and Brian McGinn, Amanda Knox features interviews with many key figures in the case, including Raffaele Sollecito, Amanda’s Italian boyfriend, who was also accused of Meredith’s murder, Giuliano Mignini, the lead prosecutor in the case, and Nick Pisa, the British journalist who helped turn Knox’s story into the media frenzy it became. By putting these figures side by side, Amanda Knox paints a pretty comprehensive picture of the murder investigation, from Amanda’s take on why she behaved the way she did after learning about Meredith’s death to how the press handled the information that it managed to get its hands on.

What’s most interesting about the documentary is that it doesn’t necessarily make its own conclusion whether Amanda is guilty or innocent. Instead, it leaves viewers to make up their own minds. In that respect, one of the most interesting lines of the whole documentary pops up right at the beginning, as Amanda is musing about her own culpability. According to her, she’s everyone’s nightmare, no matter if she’s guilty or not. After all, if she did it, she’d be the ultimate wolf in sheep’s clothing. But if she didn’t do it, that means that what happened to her could happen to any one of us. It’s a chilling moment, the kind that will live in your mind long after watching.

However, even if Amanda Knox avoids telling us which version of this still mysterious story is actually the truth, it is impossible not to finish the documentary at least somewhat on Amanda’s side. From having her sex life upended by the press to receiving a fake HIV-positive diagnosis from the police as a way of forcing a confession, there is no denying that Knox went through hell. The ultimate conclusion is that, even if she did it, she did not receive the ethical treatment that democracies like to believe they extend to crime suspects. It’s somewhat the same point that The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox tries to drive home, but there’s no denying that Netflix’s take on the case does it all with a lot more elegance and grace.

And that’s where Amanda Knox truly shines. The documentary isn’t merely a retelling of a gruesome case, but it does what most great true-crime shows and movies do: go beyond the crime itself and interrogate the events surrounding it. In this case, it’s the behavior of the press that gets truly broken down. Nick Pisa’s interviews are particularly revealing of a mindset that doesn’t really care about justice. Instead, it becomes clear that Pisa was just looking for the juiciest story possible. Moments such as the one in which he gleefully recounts finding a picture of Sollecito holding a machete at a Halloween party, a picture that would make him look more murderous, are quite terrifying.

All in all, this Netflix documentary is just a much more interesting retelling of the whole Amanda Knox affair, especially because it isn’t just interested in the story itself, but in the social ramifications of what happened. So, if you want to turn off your mind and enjoy an entertaining drama based on current events, The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox is certainly for you. Scenes in which Amanda describes her own quirkiness through Van Pattens’ voice or in which study abroad flyers jump at her as if they are living things make for fun TV (I guess), even if they are a little over-the-top and even mildly disrespectful towards Meredith. But if what you really want is to fully comprehend this bizarre story from the people involved’s own mouths, then check out the Netflix documentary.