True crime fans, this upcoming documentary is for you. I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, a new six-part documentary series from HBO, explores writer Michelle McNamara’s investigation into the dark world of a violent predator she called The Golden State Killer. The docuseries is based on McNamara’s book, I’ll Be Gone In The Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search For The Golden State Killer.
The Golden State Killer, who terrorized California in the 1970s and ‘80s, was responsible for 50 home-invasion rapes and at least 13 murders. “This series gives voice to the survivors and their families, documenting an era when sex crimes were often dismissed or hidden in shame. A timely inquiry into our macabre preoccupation with true crime and a cautionary tale of the dangerous lure of addiction, the series is a riveting meditation on obsession and loss, chronicling the unrelenting path of a mysterious killer and the fierce determination of one woman to bring the case to light.”
Watch the trailer:
McNamara, who was married to actor Patton Oswalt until her death in 2016, curated a blog about unsolved crimes, True Crime Diaries. She chronicled her findings on the blog and later wrote a lengthy article about the case for Los Angeles Magazine. Then she landed a major book deal. After her death, Oswalt enlisted his wife’s fellow sleuths, Paul Haynes and Billy Jensen to help finish and publish McNamara’s book, which received rave reviews and became a 2018 New York Times bestseller. They released the book posthumously on February 27, 2018, nearly two years after McNamara’s death and two months before an arrest would be made in the case.
Harper Perennial
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark is a “detective story told in McNamara’s own words, through exclusive original recordings and excerpts from her book read by actor Amy Ryan.” In the above trailer released by HBO, you see just how deep McNamara goes to discovering who The Golden State Killer was. A detective featured on the trailer summed it up best, “although she never had a badge or a gun, Michelle always was one of us.”
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark premieres June 28 on HBO.
Featured Image: HBO
