TV Archives – CULTURE MIX

Culture Representation: The documentary series “Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart” features a predominantly white group of people (with one Latino) discussing the case of Elizabeth Smart, who was 14 years old when she was kidnapped from her Salt Lake City home in June 2002 and found in March 2003.

Culture Clash: Police investigators and the Smart family were often at odds with each other because the police followed suspicions that turned out to be incorrect.

Culture Audience: “Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in true crime documentaries about very famous kidnapping cases about children who were found and returned home safely.

A 2003 photo of Mary Katherine Smart, Ed Smart and Elizabeth Smart in “Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart” (Photo courtesy of Netflix)

So much has already been reported and said about the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping case—one of the most well-known and remarkable kidnapping cases of the 2000s—that yet another documentary about the case seems redundant. “Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart” doesn’t reveal much new information but this true crime documentary has the benefit of exclusive interviews with several members of the Smart family, including Elizabeth, her father Ed and her rarely interviewed sister Mary Katherine, who provided the crucial clues that led to finding Elizabeth and Elizabeth’s kidnappers.

Directed by Benedict Sanderson, “Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart” uses a lot of the same techniques that are in many other true crime documentaries: ominous music as people describe the crime and investigation; snippets of re-enactments with actors silently playing the roles of the real people involved in the case; and a “whodunit” storytelling format that reveals the perpetrators when the documentary is at least half over. The “whodunit” aspect of the documentary is dragged out and seems unnecessary because it’s common knowledge that Elizabeth Smart’s kidnappers (spouses Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Ileen Barzee) were caught and sent to prison.

In 2003, Barzee pleaded guilty to kidnapping, sexual assault and burglary. She received 15 years in prison and was released in 2018. Mitchell faced the same charges and pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. In 2010, after years of delays for Mitchell’s trial, Mitchell was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Only viewers who know nothing about this case will be affected by the fake suspense that the documentary tries to build. For people already familiar with the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping case, the main reason to watch this documentary is to get the perspectives of Elizabeth and the other people who were involved in the case. Elizabeth and Ed each has a separate memoir about the kidnapping ordeal, and they have given numerous media interviews and spoken extensively about the case, while Mary Katherine has not.

It’s mentioned in the documentary that Lois Smart (Elizabeth and Mary Katherine’s mother) no longer wishes to publicly speak about the case because she wants to put it behind her. What the documentary doesn’t mention is that Ed and Lois got divorced in 2019, after Ed came out as gay. Based on what is shown in the documentary, Ed is still very close to Elizabeth and Mary Katherine, who do not talk about their siblings in the documentary.

Elizabeth Smart was born on November 3, 1987, in Salt Lake City, the city where she and her siblings were raised. She is one of six children born to Ed and Lois Smart, who raised the children in their Mormon faith. Elizabeth and Mary Katherine are the only sisters of their siblings. Elizabeth Smart’s name is now Elizabeth Gilmour (she married Matthew Gilmour in 2012), but she is now a professional child safety advocate and TV personality who uses her maiden name Elizabeth Smart for her career.

The Smart family, by all accounts, is a tight-knit and loving family, with no history of dysfunction or abuse. In the documentary, Ed describes Elizabeth in her childhood as “fiercely competitive, especially with her brothers. As far as her inner strength, she just had a really strong spirit.” Mary Katherine says Elizabeth was her best friend in her childhood and someone she looked up to as a role model.

The basic facts of the case have been widely reported and are repeated in the documentary: On June 5, 2002, Elizabeth was kidnapped in the early-morning hours from the bedroom that she shared with Mary Katherine, who witnessed the kidnapping but pretended to be asleep. Mary Katherine said that the kidnapper (who had a knife) was a man whose voice she recognized, but she could not immediately identify the kidnapper by name. The kidnapper told Elizabeth that if she made a sound, he would kill Elizabeth. A kitchen window screen in the house had been cut and was believed to be the way the kidnapper entered the house.

There was widespread media coverage of the kidnapping because it’s rare for a stranger to kidnap a child from inside the child’s home. Suspicion first fell on the men in the Smart family, who all had solid alibis and were eventually cleared as suspects. In the documentary, Ed mentions that the stress of being under suspicion caused him to have a mental breakdown, and his father put him in a psychiatric facility for a brief period of time.

Suspicion then shifted to Richard Ricci, a contractor who had recently done work on the Smart family house. Ricci had a long criminal record since the early 1970s, including convictions for attempted homicide, felony burglary, aggravated robbery and third-degree theft. He refused to give an alibi for the time period when Elizabeth was kidnapped. Ricci was arrested, but he insisted that he had nothing to do with the kidnapping. Mary Katherine also told police that Ricci was not the kidnapper. On August 30, 2002, Ricci died of a brain aneurysm while he was in jail for this arrest.

In the documentary, Mary Katherine says that being the only witness to the kidnapping was a terrifying and isolating experience. In the documentary, she talks about how she was afraid to go to sleep at night. And before Elizabeth was found, police told her not to talk to anyone outside of her family and law enforcement about what she witnessed because it could possibly influence her memory. Mary Katherine was left to cope on her own proverbial “lonely island,” she says. Mary Katherine also underwent hypnosis (which didn’t work) to try to help her remember the name of the man she saw kidnap Elizabeth.

And then, in October 2002, Mary Katherine says she was looking at something to do with the Olympics that year when she suddenly remembered the name of the man who had the voice of the kidnapper. The Smart family knew him as Emmanuel, but his real name was Brian David Mitchell. He was an eccentric vagrant who called himself Emmanuel David Isaiah, dressed in white robes, and preached Christianity.

Several months before Elizabeth’s kidnapping, Mitchell had done some repairs on the house for a few hours. Mary Katherine remembered that she, Elizabeth and her mother Lois met him by seeing him preaching on the street. Lois offered to give him this temporary job, which he started but never completed and didn’t go back to the home to get paid for the work that he had done.

Even though Mary Katherine had identified the kidnapper, police investigators were skeptical because Ricci (who was now deceased) was still considered to be the main suspect. Many people also were skeptical that Elizabeth was still alive. However, the Smart family, led by Ed, didn’t give up hope and took it upon themselves to spread the word in the media and in the general public that “Emmanuel” was a person of interest.

Mitchell’s brother-in-law called in a tip to the Smart family to tell them that he thought Mitchell was the kidnapper. This brother-in-law said that Mitchell matched Mary Katherine’s description of Emmanuel and Mitchell was weird enough to possibly be involved in the kidnapping. Eventually, police began to help with this search of the man who called himself Emmanuel, who was later confirmed to be Mitchell.

Perhaps the most memorable aspect of this kidnapping is that Elizabeth had been in Salt Lake City during most of her kidnapping and was hiding in plain sight. Mitchell and Barzee forced Elizabeth to wear white robes where she was completely covered, except for her eyes, when they went out in public. Barzee wore the same type of robe too. Mitchell’s robes did not cover up his face.

Before Mitchell and Barzee were identified as the kidnapping suspects, people who saw the three of them out on public assumed that trio wore the robes for religious reasons, not because one of them was kidnapped. In the rare occasions that Mitchell and Barzee allowed Elizabeth to speak to anyone, the spouses stayed close enough to Elizabeth to monitor and control what she could say. If anyone asked, the kidnapper spouses claimed that the teenage girl with them was their daughter.

Elizabeth was too afraid to reveal her true identity when they were out in public because Mitchell had threatened to kill her family if she did. Mitchell and Barzee lived in a tent in the mountainous wooded area during most of Elizabeth’s kidnapping. However, all three of them would go into the urban area of the city for food, drinks and supplies.

Elizabeth (who describes Mitchell as “looking like Rasputin”) went public years ago about how Mitchell raped her every day, multiple times a day, during her kidnapping. She says she resisted this sexual assault until it was obvious she couldn’t escape it, as long as Mitchell and Barzee kept watch over her 24 hours a day. Elizabeth was a virgin with no dating experience. Her innocence was brutally stolen from her and made her afraid of men who were strangers for many years after this trauma, Elizabeth says in the documentary. She says that even though she knows being raped wasn’t her fault, it took her a long time not to feel shame about it.

In the documentary, Elizabeth says that before Mitchell raped her for the first time, he told her: “I hereby seal you to me as my wife, as God and angels as my witnesses.” After Mitchell raped her, Elizabeth remembers: “He got up and smiled, like it was no big deal to him,” even though he saw blood running down her thighs because of this rape. “More than anything, he loved power,” Elizabeth says. “He loved feeling like he was in control.”

Mitchell, who called himself a prophet of God, used religion as his excuse for his horrific crimes. Elizabeth says that Barzee was a willing accomplice who encouraged Mitchell to harm Elizabeth. According to Elizabeth, Mitchell repeatedly told her that Elizabeth was one of seven girls he planned to kidnap and make his “wives.” Mary Katherine and her cousin Olivia were among those Mitchell said were on his list.

In June 2002, while former kidnapping suspect Ricci was in jail on suspicion for the kidnapping, there was a break-in of the home of one of Ed’s brothers, with a bedroom window screen cut in a similar manner to how the kitchen window screen was cut in Ed and Lois’ house. It was later revealed that Mitchell had broken into the house with the intent tried to kidnap Elizabeth’s cousin Jessica Wright, who was 18 at the time. Mitchell left when he heard the family’s dog barking.

Elizabeth was almost discovered when she, Mitchell and Barzee went to a public library, and a police officer (whose name is not mentioned in the documentary) asked Elizabeth to remove the part of the robe that covered her face. The cop suspected that she might be Elizabeth, who did not speak during this encounter. Instead, Mitchell convinced the police officer that it was against his family’s religion for women and girls to expose their faces in public, so the police officer backed off.

This near-discovery unnerved Mitchell, who then briefly relocated to the San Diego area with Elizabeth and Barzee. However, in the documentary, Elizabeth describes how she convinced Mitchell to move them all back to the Salt Lake City area, by appealing to his ego and saying that God was speaking to Mitchell to go back to the Salt Lake City area. The tactic worked.

On March 12, 2003, Elizabeth was rescued by police when the trio was stopped by police officers on a street in Sandy, Utah. The police had responded to calls from concerned citizens about this odd-looking trio who matched the description of Elizabeth and her suspected kidnappers. Victor Quezada, a police sergeant who was the one to get Elizabeth to identify herself, is interviewed in the documentary. He is one of the heroes in this story.

Another law enforcement officer who is interviewed in the documentary is Cory Lyman, who was a Salt Lake City police captain at the time of the kidnapping. However, Lyman didn’t finish the working on the case because he accepted a job offer to be police chief of Ketchum, Idaho, while Elizabeth was still missing. In the documentary, Lyman admits to making mistakes that affected the case, such as initially assuming that someone in the Smart family and Ricci were the most likely suspects. He describes his joy and relief when Elizabeth was found. Elizabeth and other members of the Smart family also describe in the documentary what they were feeling after Elizabeth was rescued.

Other people interviewed in the documentary are Ed’s brothers David Smart and Tom Smart; Salt Lake City police detective Cordon Parks, who interviewed Mitchell after Mitchell’s arrest; Jared Parkinson, a Salt Lake City resident who said he interacted with Mitchell when he saw Mitchell, Barzee and Elizabeth at a Salt Lake City bar; and TV journalist Nicea DeGering. The most compelling interviews are with Elizabeth, Ed and Mary Katherine, who are the biggest heroes in this story for not giving up hope and for pushing forward in ways that made a difference when law enforcement made missteps in the investigations.

The main takeaway from watching the documentary is how Elizabeth Smart is an inspiring survivor story and how important it is for a kidnapped person’s loved ones to enlist help from the public when police investigations stall or move too slowly. Although the police investigations helped in this case, the mistakes made in the investigations also caused setbacks for the case. Ed and the rest of the Smart family never gave up hope and did things responsibly to help the investigations in areas where the police were reluctant to help. “Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart” is also a cautionary tale for people to be more observant and pro-active about suspicious activity that could be connected to a crime and/or could save someone’s life.

Netflix premiered “Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart” on January 21, 2026.

2026 Academy Awards: ‘Sinners’ is the top nominee

January 22, 2026

by Carla Hay

Justin William Davis, Jayme Lawson, Wunmi Mosaku, Michael B. Jordan, Miles Caton ad Lil Jun Li in “Sinners” (Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures)

With a record-breaking 16 nods, the Warner Bros. Pictures vampire drama “Sinners” is the top nominee for the 98th Annual Academy Awards, which will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on March 15, 2026. ABC will have the U.S. telecast of the show, which will be hosted by Conan O’Brien and livestreamed on Hulu. The nominations were announced by actress Danielle Brooks and actor Lewis Pullman on January 22, 2026. The 16 nominations for “Sinners” make “Sinners” the movie with the most Oscar nominations in one year, breaking the record previously held by 2016’s “La La Land,” 1997’s “Titanic” and 1950’s “All About Eve,” which had 14 nominations each.

The nominations for “Sinners” are Best Picture; Best Director (for Ryan Coogler); Best Actor (for Michael B. Jordan); Best Supporting Actress (for Wunmi Musaku); Best Supporting Actor (for Delroy Lindo); Best Original Screenplay; Best Film Editing; Best Cinematography; Best Production Design; Best Costume Design; Best Makeup and Hairstyling; Best Sound; Best Visual Effects; Best Original Score; Best Original Song (for “I Lied to You”); and Best Casting, a new Oscar category that debuts this year.

As of 2022, the Academy Awards rule is that no less than 10 movies can be nominated for Best Picture. The other contenders for Best Picture are Focus Features’ sci-fi comedy/drama “Bugonia”; Apple Original Films’ action film “F1”; Netflix’s horror film “Frankenstein”; Focus Features’ drama “Hamnet”; A24’s comedy/drama “Marty Supreme”; Warner Bros. Pictures’ action comedy “One Battle After Another”; Neon’s drama “The Secret Agent”; Neon’s drama “Sentimental Value”; and Netflix’s “Train Dreams.”

“One Battle After Another” had the second-highest number of Oscar nominations this year (13 nods each), followed by “Frankenstein,” “Marty Supreme” and “Sentimental Value,” which had nine nods each.

The awards are voted for by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. For the 2026 ceremony, eligible movies were those released in the U.S. cinemas or in their native country in 2025.

Snubs and Surprises

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in “Wicked: For Good” (Photo by Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures)

Some movies that have been getting awards or nominations elsewhere were completely snubbed by the Academy Awards. They include Universal Pictures’ musical “Wicked: For Good,” Neon’s comedy/drama “No Other Choice,” and A24’s drama “Sorry, Baby.” The Oscar shutout for “Wicked: For Good” (a sequel to 2024’s “Wicked”) was an especially noticeable because “Wicked” had 10 Oscar nominations, and ended up winning two Oscars: Best Costume Design and Best Production Design. “Wicked: For Good” was not as highly praised by critics as “Wicked,” and it seems as if Oscar voters didnt think “Wicked: For Good” had anything original in the movie that was award-worthy.

The snubs for individual 2026 Oscar nominations, despite being nominated elsewhere, were Paul Mescal of “Hamnet” (Best Supporting Actor), Chase Infiniti of “One Battle After Another” (Best Actress) and Odessa A’zion of “Marty Supreme” (Best Supporting Actress).

Perhaps the biggest surprise was Delroy Lindo of “Sinners” getting nominated for Best Supporting Actor, after he had been passed over for nominations at other major awards shows. Elle Fanning of “Sentimental Value” getting a nod for Best Supporting Actress was also a surprise because other major awards shows had snubbed her for this nomination. Lindo and Fanning are both first-time Oscar nominees for these respective movies.

Diversity and Inclusion

Writer/director/producer Ryan Coogler and cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw on the set of “Sinners” (Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures)

Racial diversity is in every actor/actress category at the 2026 Academy Awards, except for Best Actress where all the nominees are white. Black people are represented the most with “Sinners,” which has black people nominated in the categories for Best Picture (Ryan Coogler and his wife Zinzi Coogler), Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Original Screenplay (Ryan Coogler), Best Cinematography (Autumn Durald Arkapaw), Best Original Song (Raphael Saadiq), Best Makeup and Hairstyling (Shunika Terry), Best Production Design (Hanna Beachler) and Best Costume Design (Ruth E. Carter).

Because of “Sinners,” director/writer/producer Ryan Coogler is the black person with the most Oscar nominations (three) this year: He’s nominated for Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture. Black people nominated in other Oscar categories are Teyana Taylor of “One Battle After Another” (Best Supporting Actress); producers Alisa Payne and Nikon Kwantu of Netflix’s “The Perfect Neighbor” (Best Documentary Feature Film); and producer/co-director Christalyn Hampton for HBO’s “The Devil Is Busy” (Best Documentary Short Film).

Latin representation for individual Oscar nominees was most visible because of the Brazilian film “The Secret Agent,” with star Wagner Moura getting his first Oscar nod for Best Actor, while casting director Gabriel Domingues got an Oscar nomination for Best Casting. The category for Best International Feature Film, where “The Secret Agent” is also nominated, is an award for a nation, not any individuals. “The Secret Agent” producer Emilie Lesclaux, who is a French-born white filmmaker, is the movie’s only nominee for Best Picture. Elsewhere, “One Battle After Another” co-star Benicio del Toro, who is Puerto Rican, received a nod for Best Supporting Actor. The category for Best Sound has several Latin nominees: José Antonio García and Tony Villaflor of “One Battle After Another”; Felipe Pacheco of “Sinners”; and Amanda Villavieja, Laia Casanovas and Yasmina Praderas of Neon’s Spanish drama “Sirāt.”

Oscar-winning Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro of “Frankenstein” is nominated for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screeenplay. Nominees for Best Animated feature film include co-director Adrian Molina for Pixar’s “Elio,” producer Nidia Santiago for GKIDS’ “Little Amélie or the Character of Rain” and producer Yvett Merino for Walt Disney Pictures’ “Zootopia 2,” which currently holds the record for Disney’s highest-grossing animated film at the box office. Meanwhile, producer Juan Arredondo of “Armed Only With a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud” is nominated for Best Documentary Short Film.

Middle-Eastern heritage filmmakers have several Oscar nominations, most notably with screenwriters Jafar Panahi, Nader Saïvar, Shadmehr Rastin and Mehdi Mahmoudian of Neon’s Iran-located drama “It Was Just an Accident,” nominated for Best Original Screenplay. For “Cutting Through Rocks,” another movie taking place in Iran, directors/producers Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni are nominated for Best Documentary Feature Film.

South Asian-heritage filmmakers who are Oscar-nominated this year include director Geeta Gandbhir, who scored two nominations: one for “The Perfect Neighbor” (Best Documentary Feature Film) and the other for “The Devil Is Busy” (Best Documentary Short Film). “Two People Changing Saliva” co-director/producer Alexandre Singh is nominated for Best Live-Action Short Film.

East Asian-heritage filmmakers received several Oscar nods, most notably Chinese-born filmmaker Chloé Zhao, who received two nominations for “Hamnet”: Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. Zhao is one of the few women who’s won an Oscar for Best Director, having previously received this prize for 2020’s “Nomadland.” The category for Best Animated Feature Film has several nominees of East Asian heritage: Netflix’s “KPop Demon Hunters” co-director Maggie Kang and producer Michelle M. Wong; “Elio” co-director Domee Shi; and “Little Amélie or the Character of Rain” co-director Liane-Cho Han.

“KPop Demon Hunters” (about a South Korean singing group moonlighting as demon hunters) is also nominated for Best Original Song (for “Golden”), whose nominated Asian writers are Ejae, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seon and Teddy Park. The category of Best Makeup and Hairstyling has four nominees of Japanese heritage: Kyoko Toyokawa, Naomi Hibino and Tadashi Nishimatsu of GKIDS’ Japanese movie “Kokuho” and Kazu Hiro of A24’s drama “The Smashing Machine.” Meanwhile, Miyako Bellizzi of “Marty Supreme” is nominated for Best Costume Design.

LGBTQ representation in the Oscar nominations can be found with Apple TV’s “Come See Me in the Good Light,” which chronicles the journey of writer spouses Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley, after Gibson was diagnosed with cancer. “Come See Me in the Good Light” director Ryan White and producer Tig Nitaro are openly gay. In the categories for actors and actresses, Ethan Hawke received a nod for Best Actor portraying real-life Broadway lyricist Lorenz “Larry” Hart in Sony Pictures Classics’ drama “Blue Moon,” which also received a nod for Best Original Screenplay. Hart never publicly stated what his sexuality was in real life, but the movie implies that he is queer, and several historical accounts of him describe him as queer.

And although several Oscar categories are still dominated by male nominees (such as Best Visual Effects, Best Cinematography, Best Sound and Best Original Score), some women are nominated in a small number of male-dominated categories. “Sinners” cinematogapher Durald Arkapaw became only the fourth woman in Oscar history to be nominated for Best Cinematography. Durald Akrapaw, who identifies as multiracial (Filipina and black), is also the first woman of color to get an Oscar nomination for Best Cinematography. The previously named Best Sound nominees for “Sirāt” are all women. It’s very rare for a movie to have only women nominees in this category. Gwendolyn Yates Whittle of “F1” is also one of the females nominees for Best Sound this year.

Here is the complete list of nominations for the 2026 Academy Awards:

Best Picture

“Bugonia”
“F1”
“Frankenstein”
“Hamnet”
“Marty Supreme”
“One Battle After Another”
“The Secret Agent”
“Sentimental Value”
“Sinners”
“Train Dreams”

Best Director

Paul Thomas Anderson (“One Battle After Another”)
Ryan Coogler (“Sinners”)
Josh Safdie (“Marty Supreme”)
Joachim Trier (“Sentimental Value”)
Chloé Zhao (“Hamnet”)

Best Actor in a Leading Role

Timothée Chalamet (“Marty Supreme”)
Leonardo DiCaprio (“One Battle After Another”)
Ethan Hawke (“Blue Moon”)
Michael B. Jordan (“Sinners”)
Wagner Moura (“The Secret Agent”)

Best Actress in a Leading Role

Jessie Buckley (“Hamnet”)
Rose Byrne (“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”)
Kate Hudson (“Song Sung Blue”)
Renate Reinsve (“Sentimental Value”)
Emma Stone (“Bugonia”)

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Benicio Del Toro (“One Battle After Another”)
Jacob Elordi (“Frankenstein”)
Delroy Lindo (“Sinners”)
Sean Penn (“One Battle After Another”)
Stellan Skarsgård (“Sentimental Value”0

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Elle Fanning (“Sentimental Value”)
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas (“Sentimental Value”)
Amy Madigan (“Weapons”)
Wunmi Mosaku (“Sinners”)
Teyana Taylor (“One Battle After Another”)

Best Adapted Screenplay

“Bugonia,” written by Will Tracy
“Frankenstein,” written by Guillermo del Toro
“Hamnet,” written by Chloé Zhao and Maggie O’Farrell
“One Battle After Another,” written by Paul Thomas Anderson
“Train Dreams,” written by Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar

Best Original Screenplay

“Blue Moon,” written by Robert Kaplow
“It Was Just an Accident,” written by Jafar Panahi, in collaboration with Shadmehr Rastin, Nader Saïvar and Mehdi Mahmoudian
“Marty Supreme,” written by Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie
“Sentimental Value,” written by Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier
“Sinners,” written by Ryan Coogler

Best Cinematography

“Frankenstein,” Dan Laustsen
“Marty Supreme,” Darius Khondji
“One Battle After Another,” Michael Bauman
“Sinners,” Autumn Durald Arkapaw
“Train Dreams,” Adolpho Veloso

Best Film Editing

“F1,” Stephen Mirrione
“Marty Supreme,” Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie
“One Battle After Another,” Andy Jurgensen
“Sentimental Value,” Olivier Bugge Coutté
“Sinners,” Michael P. Shawver

Best Casting

“Hamnet,” Nina Gold
“Marty Supreme,” Jennifer Venditti
“One Battle After Another,” Cassandra Kulukundis
“The Secret Agent,” Gabriel Domingues
“Sinners,” Francine Maisler

Best Sound

“F1”
“Frankenstein”
“One Battle After Another”
“Sinners”
“Sirāt”

Best Original Score

“Bugonia,” Jerskin Fendrix
“Frankenstein,” Alexandre Desplat
“Hamnet,” Max Richter
“One Battle After Another,” Jonny Greenwood
“Sinners,” Ludwig Göransson

Best Original Song

“Dear Me” from “Diane Warren: Relentless” – Music and lyrics by Diane Warren
“Golden” from “KPop Demon Hunters” – Music and lyrics by Ejae, Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seon and Teddy Park
“I Lied to You” from “Sinners” – Music and lyrics by Raphael Saadiq and Ludwig Göransson
“Sweet Dreams of Joy” from “Viva Verdi!” – Music and lyrics by Nicholas Pike
“Train Dreams” from “Train Dreams” – Music and lyrics by Nick Cave

Best Animated Feature Film

“Arco”
“Elio”
“KPop Demon Hunters”
“Little Amélie or the Character of Rain”
“Zootopia 2”

Best International Feature Film

“It Was Just an Accident” (France)
“The Secret Agent” (Brazil)
“Sentimental Value” (Norway)
“Sirāt” (Spain)
“The Voice of Hind Rajab” (Tunisia)

Best Documentary Feature

“The Alabama Solution”
“Come See Me in the Good Light”
“Cutting Through Rocks”
“Mr. Nobody Against Putin”
“The Perfect Neighbor”

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

“Frankenstein”
“Kokuho”
“Sinners”
“The Smashing Machine”
“The Ugly Stepsister”

Best Costume Design

“Avatar: Fire and Ash,” Deborah L. Scott
“Frankenstein,” Kate Hawley
“Hamnet,” Malgosia Turzanska
“Marty Supreme,” Miyako Bellizzi
“Sinners,” Ruth E. Carter

Best Production Design

“Frankenstein”
“Hamnet”
“Marty Supreme”
“One Battle After Another”
“Sinners”

Best Visual Effects

“Avatar: Fire and Ash”
“F1”
“Jurassic World Rebirth”
“The Lost Bus”
“Sinners”

Best Documentary Short Film

“All the Empty Rooms”
“Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud”
“Children No More: ‘Were and Are Gone'”
“The Devil Is Busy”
“Perfectly a Strangeness”

Best Animated Short Film

“Butterfly”
“Forevergreen”
“The Girl Who Cried Pearls”
“Retirement Plan”
“The Three Sisters”

Best Live-Action Short Film

“Butcher’s Stain’
“A Friend of Dorothy”
“Jane Austen’s Period Drama”
“The Singers”
“Two People Exchanging Saliva”

Review: ‘Killer Confessions: Case Files of a Texas Ranger’ starring James Holland

January 19, 2026

by Carla Hay

“Killer Confessions: Case Files of a Texas Ranger”

Culture Representation: The documentary series “Killer Confessions: Case Files of a Texas Ranger” features a predominantly white group of people who are featured in true crime cases that involved investigations by Texas ranger James Holland.

Culture Clash: Holland has been able to get difficult confessions from various criminals.

Culture Audience: “Killer Confessions: Case Files of a Texas Ranger” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in true crime documentaries that feature video footage of criminal confessions.

“Killer Confessions: Case Files of a Texas Ranger” is yet another true crime show in a long list of true crime shows where a detective on numerous criminal cases is the show’s host/star, who talks about a different case per episode. Investigation Discovery has been offering these types of shows for many years, most notably with retired Colorado police detective Joe Kenda.

“Killer Confessions: Case Files of a Texas Ranger,” with each episode centering on Texas ranger James Holland talking about his most notable cases, tends to get repetitive in stating that he is self-admittedly smug and arrogant However, the video confessions are compelling to watch. The show’s pacing is a little too slow, but viewer interest can be maintained based on the types of cases that are covered in the series.

The series premiere episode—titled “Pathologically Evil” and directed by Alexis Robie—examines the complicated case of serial killer William Reece, a former truck driver who was born on July 1, 1959, in Oklahoma. Reece is serving three life sentences for murders that he committed in 1997. He targeted young women and girls as his victims. Before he was convicted of murder, he served time in prison for two 1986 rapes and a 1997 kidnapping.

In 2021, Reece was convicted of the murder of 19-year-old Tiffany Johnston, who went missing in Bethany, Oklahoma. In 2022, he was convicted of the murders of 12-year-old Laura Smither, who went missing in Friendswood, Texas; 20-year-old Kelly Cox, who went missing in Denton, Texas; and Jessica Cain, who went missing in Tiki Island, Texas. Reece pleaded guilty to the murders of Smither, Cox and Cain and pleaded not guilty to the murder of Johnston because he claims he killed Johnston in self-defense.

Laura Smither’s mother Gay Smither is interviewed in the episode. She vividly describes the agony of losing Laura, who disappeared when she went out for a morning jog. Tiffany Johnston’s mother Kathy Dobry talks about how Johnston was last seen at a car wash. Both mothers describe their daughters as vibrant, lovable people whose lives were cruelly taken away from them.

Because “Killer Confessions: Case Files of a Texas Ranger” is a show about confessions that led to criminal convictions, the prime suspects are revealed early on in the show’s episode. The episode about serial killer Reece gives a summary of each of his victims’ disappearances and how their bodies were found. DNA evidence was the main reason why Reece became a prime suspect. In his confessions, Reece admitted that he also sexually assaulted his victims, but he made it sound like his victims instigated some kind of conflict with him first. Investigators involved in the case say that in reality, Reece most likely was a predator to his victims, with the intention to harm them.

Holland’s long interviews of Reece in 2016 are credited with being the catalyst for Reece confessing to murders where the bodies had not been found yet, but Reece told in his confessions where the bodies were. Reece was interviewed by Holland at the Department of Corrections in Huntsville, Texas. Holland (whose nicknames are Jim or Jimmy) explains that his strategy in his interviews with Reece was to act like a know-it-all expert and to make Reece feel like he was on the same intelligence level.

Holland showed sympathy to Reece in the interrogations, but Holland said this sympathy was an all act to get Reece to confess. It’s a controversial tactic for police investigators to establish a friendly rapport with someone suspected of being a serial killer, but Holland said it was a performance that worked for him in this situation. Holland freely admits that he did most of the talking during these interviews, in contrast to many other investigators who use a technique where the goal is for the person being interviewed to do most of the talking.

This episode of “Killer Confessions: Case Files of a Texas Ranger” has an exclusive interview with Reece’s second ex-wife Ronda Keller. It’s her first TV interview that she’s done about Reece. Keller married Reece in 1984, two years after his Reece’s first ex-wife divorced him for the second time. It’s not mentioned in the documentary when Keller divorced Reece. In her interview, Keller describes Reece (whom she married in 1984) as a very convincing liar and someone who knew how to charm women before they could see his nasty side.

She gives an example: On their first date, Keller says that Reece took her to a Jack in the Box fast food restaurant, where he flirted with a female employee and got a free meal out of this flirtation. “That should’ve been a sign,” Keller says about any early red flags in their relationship.

The episode also has a 1997 hand-held video of Reece flirting with two teenage girls (whose faces are blurred out to protect their privacy) at a place called the Busy Bee Cafe. He convinces one of the girls, who looks like she’s about 15 to 17 years old, to sit on his lap, and he lightly puts his hands around his neck. It’s creepy to see this video footage, considering that Reece later admitted he used strangulation as one way to murder.

Also interviewed in this episode are Steve Jeter, a retired Texas Ranger; Jack Roady, district attorney of Galveston County in Texas; and Ryan Stephenson, retired assistant district attorney of Oklahoma County in Oklahoma. Jeter describes Holland as a “maverick” interrogator but also one of the most arrogant people’s he’s ever met. However, Jeter says he respects Holland as a law enforcement officer who’s accomplished things that others couldn’t do.

There might be a little bit of personal friction between Jeter and Holland because Jeter was sidelined in the interviews with Reece. Holland says when he first started to interview Reece, Jeter was in the room too. In order to get Jeter to leave the room, Holland admits he started calling Jeter a “pretty boy,” which Holland said was a way for Reece to warm up to Holland for being a bully to Jeter. The tactic worked because Jeter ended up letting Holland take over the interview that resulted in Reece’s confessions.

Holland makes this remark toward the end of the episode about getting the confessions from Reece: “I know what I brought in that room were things Reece had never seen before. The job of a ranger, I believe, is to stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves.”

As a storyteller, Holland’s self-congratulatory style might not be to everyone’s taste. He doesn’t really care if he comes across as likable, but he does seem to care about being perceived as one of the best Texas Rangers ever. At the very least, if people watch “Killer Confessions: Case Files of a Texas Ranger,” they’ll probably see confession videos where Holland goes up against a criminal whose ego might be as huge as his.

Investigation Discovery premiered “Killer Confessions: Case Files of a Texas Ranger” on January 13, 2026.

Review: ‘Harlan Coben’s Final Twist,’ starring Harlan Coben

January 19, 2026

by Carla Hay

“Harlan Coben’s Final Twist”

Culture Representation: The documentary series “Harlan Coben’s Final Twist” features a predominantly white group of people who are featured in true crime cases that are examined by mystery book author Harlan Coben.

Culture Clash: Various people commit crimes and are caught by law enforcement.

Culture Audience: “Harlan Coben’s Final Twist” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in true crime docuseries with celebrity hosts.

“Harlan Coben’s Final Twist” is a reliably solid true crime docuseries that doesn’t do anything groundbreaking in its presentation of a different case per episode. Harlan Coben’s narration is a little stiff, but it’s not awkward. Coben, who is a best-selling author of mystery novels, is the show’s host and an executive producer of the series. He does not conduct the interviews that are featured on the show.

Jeff Zimbalist of All Rise Films is the showrunner, as well as an executive producer, of “Harlan Coben’s Final Twist.” Each case spotlights crimes involving residents of the United States. Each episode features interviews with people who know the crime victims and/or the accused; law enforcement officials; and anyone else who was directly involved in the case. There are some re-enactments with actors, but these scenes are short are not exploitative. As the show’s title implies, there’s a “final twist” in each case that was not expected by many people in the general public who were following the case.

The series premiere episode, titled “Billy and Billie Jean,” is about the murders of 36-year-old Billy Payne and his 23-year-old fiancée Billie Jean Hayworth, who were shot to death in their home in Mountain City, Tennessee, on January 31, 2012. The couple’s son Tyler, who was 6 or 7 months old at the time, was found uninjured in Hayworth’s arms. Payne and Hayworth were both shot in the head, while Payne also had his throat slit. There were no sign of an intrusion. No items were stolen from the home.

Although the couple’s friends and family told police investigators that Payne and Hayworth were friendly and didn’t cause problems, the investigation quickly uncovered that Payne and Hayworth were involved in a prolonged and bitter online feud with a woman in her early 30s named Jenelle Potter, who accused Payne and Hayworth of stalking and bullying her online for several months. Payne and Hayworth denied all of her accusations before the couple got brutally murdered.

This case has gotten a lot of media attention, but the full results of the case won’t be revealed in this review, in case people want to see this show episode to find out. However, it’s enough to say that other people who got personally involved in the feud were Jenelle’s father Marvin “Buddy” Potter, Jenelle’s mother Barbara Potter, and Jenelle’s boyfriend Jamie Lynn Curd, who also happened to be Payne’s cousin. Chris Tjaden, a former cop whom Jenelle knew when they went to the same high school, is also a name that frequently came up in the investigation.

Family members and friends of the victims who are interviewed in “Harlan Coben’s Final Twist” are not identified by their last names. A woman named Sarah (who is described as a friend of Hayworth) and Billy’s sister Tracy are each interviewed in this episode. They both describe Jenelle as a weird loner, who was sheltered by her overprotective parents. Jenelle had an obvious crush on Billy, who deliberately played matchmaker with Jenelle and his cousin Curd, with the hope that Jenelle would lose interest in Billy.

Other people interviewed in the episode are cybersecurity special agent Mike Hannon, prosecuting attorney Dennis Brooks and attorney Cameron Hyder. “Harlan Coben’s Final Twist” doesn’t get overstuffed with interviews and has a format that is similar to “48 Hours” and “Dateline,” except that “Harlan Coben’s Final Twist” does not have news correspondents conducting interviews on camera for the show. The final twist in this case is that many people feel that justice was not fully served for the person who set these murders into motion.

CBS premiered “Harlan Coben’s Final Twist” on January 7, 2026.

True Crime Entertainment: What’s New This Week

The following content is generally available worldwide, except where otherwise noted. All TV shows listed are for networks and streaming services based in the United States. All movies listed are those released in U.S. cinemas. This schedule is for content and events premiering this week and does not include content that has already been made available.

January 19 – January 25, 2026

TV/Streaming Services

All times listed are Eastern Time/Pacific Time, unless otherwise noted.

Netflix’s documentary film “Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart” will premiere on Wednesday, January 21 at 3 a.m. ET/12 a.m. PT.

Monday, January 19

“Fatal Attraction”
“Dancing With Danger” (Episode 1624)
Monday, January 19, 9 p.m., TV One

“People Magazine Investigates”
“Death in Hell’s Kitchen” (Episode 902)
Monday, January 19, 9 p.m., Investigation Discovery

“120 Hours Behind Bars”
“Washington Parish Jail” (Episode 101) **Series Premiere**
Monday, January 19, 9 p.m., Discovery

“The Curious Case of …”
“The Killer Cheesecake” (Episode 202)
Monday, January 19, 9 p.m., Investigation Discovery

Tuesday, January 20

“Handsome Devil: Charming Killer” (Three-episode docuseries)
Tuesday, January 20, 3 a.m ET, 12 a.m. PT, Paramount+

“Harlan Coben’s Final Twist”
“No Sign of Nancy” (Episode 103)
Tuesday, January 20, 8 p.m., CBS

“Evil Lives Here”
“I Am Not My Father” (Episode 902)
Tuesday, January 20, 9 p.m., Investigation Discovery

“Court Cam”
“Fostering Evil” (Episode 916)
Tuesday, January 20, 9 p.m., A&E

“Court Cam”
“Fostering Evil” (Episode 917)
Tuesday, January 20, 9:30 p.m., A&E

“Killer Confessions: Case Files of a Texas Ranger”
“Lie, Cheat, Kill Evil” (Episode 102)
Tuesday, January 20, 10 p.m., Investigation Discovery

“Booked: First Day In”
“DUI Dilemma” (Episode 402)
Tuesday, January 20, 10 p.m., A&E

Wednesday, January 21

“Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart” (Documentary Film)
Wednesday, January 21, 3 a.m ET/12 a.m. PT, Netflix

“Alaska State Troopers”
“Lost in the Woods” (Episode 903)
Wednesday, January 21, 8 p.m., A&E

“Police 24/7”
“She’s Breathing” (Episode 236)
Wednesday, January 21, 8 p.m., The CW

“Body Cam”
“Risking It All” (Episode 1008)
Wednesday, January 21, 9 p.m. Investigation Discovery

“Ozark Law”
“Chaos on the Water” (Episode 203)
Wednesday, January 21, 9 p.m., A&E

“The Murder Tapes”
“Murder in Disguise” (Episode 1008)
Wednesday, January 21, 9 p.m. Investigation Discovery

“Desert Law”
“Over the Limit” (Episode 103)
Wednesday, January 21, 10 p.m., A&E

“To Catch a Smuggler”
“Two Million-Dollar Meth Haul” (Episode 1511)
Wednesday, January 21, 10 p.m., National Geographic

“To Catch a Smuggler”
“Silica Meth” (Episode 1512)
Wednesday, January 21, 10:30 p.m., National Geographic

Thursday, January 22

“London’s Gangsters” (Two-episode docuseries)
Thursday, January 22, 3 a.m ET/12 a.m. PT, Sundance Now, AMC+

“The First 48”
“The Cool Mom”
Thursday, January 22, 8 p.m., A&E

‘“Homicide Squad New Orleans”
“Crossing Stories” (Episode 302)
Thursday, January 22, 9 p.m., A&E

“Crime in Progress”
“Manhunt in Georgia” (Episode 104)
Thursday, January 22, 10 p.m., A&E

Friday, January 23

“The Big Fake” (Drama Film)
Friday, January 23, 3 a.m ET/12 a.m. PT, Netflix

“On Patrol: First Shift”
TBA
Friday, January 23, 8 p.m., Reelz

“On Patrol: Live”
TBA
Friday, January 23, 9 p.m., Reelz

“20/20”
TBA
Friday, January 23, 9 p.m., ABC

“Dateline”
TBA (Episode 3515)
Friday, January 23, 9 p.m., NBC

“The BMF Documentary: Blowing Money Fast”
“With the Streets Comes the Violence” (Episode 202)
Friday, January 23, 10 p.m., Starz

Saturday, January 24

“On Patrol: First Shift”
TBA
Saturday, January 24, 8 p.m., Reelz

“Accident, Suicide or Murder”
“Mother’s Trigger” (Episode 610)
Saturday, January 24, 8 p.m., Oxygen

“Dateline”
TBA (Episode 3516)
Saturday, January 24, 9 p.m., NBC

“48 Hours”
TBA
Saturday, January 24, 10 p.m., CBS

Sunday, January 25

“Snapped”
“Brookey Lee West” (Episode 3604)
Sunday, January 25, 6 p.m., Oxygen

“Killer Relationship With Faith Jenkins”
“Shattered Vows” (Episode 412)
Sunday, January 25, 7 p.m., Oxygen

“Sinister Secretary” (One-hour TV Special)
Sunday, January 25, 9 p.m., Investigation Discovery

“The Hillside Strangler”
“The Many Faces of Ken Bianchi” (Episode 102)
Sunday, January 25, 10 p.m., MGM+

Movies in Theaters or on Home Video

No new true crime movies releasing in theaters and on home video this week.

Radio/Podcasts

No new true crime radio or podcast series premiering this week.

Events

Events listed here are not considered endorsements by this website. All ticket buyers with questions or concerns about the event should contact the event promoter or ticket seller directly.

All start times listed are local time, unless otherwise noted.

No new true crime events this week.

2026 Golden Globe Awards: ‘One Battle After Another,’ ‘Adolescence’ are the top winners

January 11, 2026

by Carla Hay

“One Battle After Another” team members at the 83rd Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, on January 11, 2026. Pictured from left to right: actor Benicio del Toro, actress Teyana Taylor, producer Sara Murphy, actress Chase Infiniti, actor Leonardo DiCaprio, writer/director/producer Paul Thomas Anderson and actor Sean Penn. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/CBS)

With four prizes each, Warner Bros’ Pictures’ “One Battle After Another” and Netflix’s “Adolescence” were the top winners at the 83rd Annual Golden Globes, which were presented at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, on January 11, 2026. CBS had the live U.S. telecast and Paramount+ livestreamed the show, which was hosted by comedian Nikki Glaser. The Golden Globes are voted for by approximately 300 entertainment journalists from various countries.

“One Battle After Another” won the award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, while “One Battle After Another” co-star Teyana Taylor won the prize for Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture. Paul Thomas Anderson, who wrote and directed “One Battle After Another,” was awarded the prizes of Best Director and Best Screenplay. “One Battle After Another” was the leading contender going into the ceremony, with nine nominations.

“Adolescence” won the prize for Best Limited Series, Anthology Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television. “Adolescence” also won an award in every actor/actress category for which “Adolescence” was nominated: Best Male Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television (for Stephen Graham); Best Supporting Male Actor on Television (for Owen Cooper); and Best Supporting Female Actor on Television (for Erin Doherty). “Adolescence” had five nominations going into the ceremony.

Winning two prizes each were Focus Features’ “Hamnet,” Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Sinners,” Netflix’s “KPop Demon Hunters” and Neon’s “The Secret Agent.” “Hamnet” won in the categories of Best Motion Picture – Drama and Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture – Drama, with the latter award going to Jessie Buckley. “Sinners” received the prizes for Cinematic and Box Office Achievement and Best Original Score, with the latter award going to composer Ludwig Göransson. “KPop Demon Hunters” won for Best Motion Picture – Animated and Best Original Song, with the latter award going to the writers of “Golden.” The Brazilian drama “The Secret Agent” won in the categories of Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language and Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture – Drama, with the latter award going to Wagner Moura.

In the television categories, HBO Max’s “The Pitt” and Apple TV’s “The Studio” won two awards each. “The Pitt” garnered wins for Best Television Series – Drama and Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role in a Television Series – Drama, with the latter award going to Noah Wylie. “The Studio” won the prizes for Best Television Series – Comedy and Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role in a Television Series – Comedy, with the latter award going to Seth Rogen.

Although most of the ceremony’s winners were in attendance, a few were no-shows, such as Michelle Williams of Hulu’s “Dying for Sex” (Best Female Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television) and Ricky Gervais of Netflix’s “Ricky Gervais: Mortality” (Best Performance in Stand-Up Comedy on Television). This was the first year that the Golden Globes had a prize for Best Podcast, which was awarded to Spotify’s “Good Hang With Amy Poehler.” The category for Best Original Score was not televised this year, but the winner was announced during a part of the ceremony that was not on television.

As of 2025, the non-competitive prizes for the Cecil B. DeMille Award (for achievement in movies) and the Carol Burnett Award (for achievement in television) are no longer part of the main Golden Globes ceremony but instead are presented in a separate ceremony called the Golden Gala. In 2026, highlights from the Golden Gala were televised in a CBS TV special titled “Golden Eve,” on January 8. In 2026, Helen Mirren received the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and Sarah Jessica Parker received the Carol Burnett Award.

Emmy Award-winning producing duo Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner of White Cherry Entertainment returned as executive producing showrunners for the 83rd Annual Golden Globes. Dick Clark Productions planned, hosted, and produced the 83rd Annual Golden Globes.

Presenters at the show were Amanda Seyfried, Ana de Armas, Ayo Edebiri, Charli xcx, Chris Pine, Colman Domingo, Connor Storrie, Dakota Fanning, Dave Franco, Diane Lane, Don Cheadle, Fran Drescher, George Clooney, Hailee Steinfeld, Hudson Williams, Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner, Joe Keery, Judd Apatow, Julia Roberts, Justin Hartley, Kathryn Hahn, Keegan-Michael Key, Kevin Bacon, Kevin Hart, Kyra Sedgwick, Lalisa Manobal, Luke Grimes, Macaulay Culkin, Marlon Wayans, Melissa McCarthy, Mila Kunis, Miley Cyrus, Minnie Driver, Orlando Bloom, Pamela Anderson, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Queen Latifah, Regina Hall, Sean Hayes, Snoop Dogg, Wanda Sykes, Will Arnett and Zoë Kravitz.

“Adolescence” team members at the 83rd Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, on January 11, 2026. Pictured from left to right: actress/executive producer Hannah Walters, actor/executive producer/writer Stephen Graham, actress Erin Doherty, executive producer Mark Herbert, executive producer Jeremy Kleiner, executive producer Philip Barantini, executive producer/writer Jack Thorne, actor Owen Cooper and actor Ashley Walters. Pictured at far right are presenters Ayo Edebiri and Hailee Steinfeld. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/CBS)

The following is the complete list of nominees and winners for the 83rd Annual Golden Globes:

*=winner

BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

FRANKENSTEIN (Netflix)
HAMNET (Focus Features)*
IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT (NEON)
THE SECRET AGENT (NEON)
SENTIMENTAL VALUE (NEON)
SINNERS (Warner Bros. Pictures)

BEST MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

BLUE MOON (Sony Pictures Classics)
BUGONIA (Focus Features)
MARTY SUPREME (A24)
NO OTHER CHOICE (NEON)
NOUVELLE VAGUE (Netflix)
ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER (Warner Bros. Pictures)*

BEST MOTION PICTURE – ANIMATED

ARCO (NEON)
DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA INFINITY CASTLE (Aniplex, Crunchyroll, Sony Pictures Entertainment)
ELIO (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
KPOP DEMON HUNTERS (Netflix)*
LITTLE AMÉLIE OR THE CHARACTER OF RAIN (GKIDS)
ZOOTOPIA 2 (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

CINEMATIC AND BOX OFFICE ACHIEVEMENT

AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
F1 (Apple Original Films)
KPOP DEMON HUNTERS (Netflix)
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – THE FINAL RECKONING (Paramount Pictures)
SINNERS (Warner Bros. Pictures)*
WEAPONS (Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema)
WICKED: FOR GOOD (Universal Pictures)
ZOOTOPIA 2 (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

BEST MOTION PICTURE – NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE

IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT (NEON) – FRANCE
NO OTHER CHOICE (NEON) – SOUTH KOREA
THE SECRET AGENT (NEON) – BRAZIL*
SENTIMENTAL VALUE (NEON) – NORWAY
SIRĀT (NEON) – SPAIN
THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB (WILLA) – TUNISIA

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

JESSIE BUCKLEY (HAMNET)*
JENNIFER LAWRENCE (DIE MY LOVE)
RENATE REINSVE (SENTIMENTAL VALUE)
JULIA ROBERTS (AFTER THE HUNT)
TESSA THOMPSON (HEDDA)
EVA VICTOR (SORRY, BABY)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

JOEL EDGERTON (TRAIN DREAMS)
OSCAR ISAAC (FRANKENSTEIN)
DWAYNE JOHNSON (THE SMASHING MACHINE)
MICHAEL B. JORDAN (SINNERS)
WAGNER MOURA (THE SECRET AGENT)*
JEREMY ALLEN WHITE (SPRINGSTEEN: DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

ROSE BYRNE (IF I HAD LEGS I’D KICK YOU)*
CYNTHIA ERIVO (WICKED: FOR GOOD)
KATE HUDSON (SONG SUNG BLUE)
CHASE INFINITI (ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER)
AMANDA SEYFRIED (THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE)
EMMA STONE (BUGONIA)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET (MARTY SUPREME)*
GEORGE CLOONEY (JAY KELLY)
LEONARDO DICAPRIO (ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER)
ETHAN HAWKE (BLUE MOON)
LEE BYUNG-HUN (NO OTHER CHOICE)
JESSE PLEMONS (BUGONIA)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN ANY MOTION PICTURE

EMILY BLUNT (THE SMASHING MACHINE)
ELLE FANNING (SENTIMENTAL VALUE)
ARIANA GRANDE (WICKED: FOR GOOD)
INGA IBSDOTTER LILLEAAS (SENTIMENTAL VALUE)
AMY MADIGAN (WEAPONS)
TEYANA TAYLOR (ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER)*

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN ANY MOTION PICTURE

BENICIO DEL TORO (ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER)
JACOB ELORDI (FRANKENSTEIN)
PAUL MESCAL (HAMNET)
SEAN PENN (ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER)
ADAM SANDLER (JAY KELLY)
STELLAN SKARSGÅRD (SENTIMENTAL VALUE)*

BEST DIRECTOR – MOTION PICTURE

PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON (ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER)*
RYAN COOGLER (SINNERS)
GUILLERMO DEL TORO (FRANKENSTEIN)
JAFAR PANAHI (IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT)
JOACHIM TRIER (SENTIMENTAL VALUE)
CHLOÉ ZHAO (HAMNET)

BEST SCREENPLAY – MOTION PICTURE

PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON (ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER)*
RONALD BRONSTEIN, JOSH SAFDIE (MARTY SUPREME)
RYAN COOGLER (SINNERS)
JAFAR PANAHI (IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT)
ESKIL VOGT, JOACHIM TRIER (SENTIMENTAL VALUE)
CHLOÉ ZHAO, MAGGIE O’FARRELL (HAMNET)

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – MOTION PICTURE

ALEXANDRE DESPLAT (FRANKENSTEIN)
LUDWIG GÖRANSSON (SINNERS)*
JONNY GREENWOOD (ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER)
KANGDING RAY (SIRĀT)
MAX RICHTER (HAMNET)
HANS ZIMMER (F1)

BEST ORIGINAL SONG – MOTION PICTURE

“DREAM AS ONE” – AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH (Music by: Miley Cyrus, Andrew Wyatt, Mark Ronson, Simon Franglen. Lyrics by: Miley Cyrus, Andrew Wyatt, Mark Ronson, Simon Franglen)
“GOLDEN” –KPOP DEMON HUNTERS (Music by: Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo, Park Hong Jun. Lyrics by: Kim Eun-jae (EJAE), Mark Sonnenblick)*
“I LIED TO YOU” – SINNERS (Music by: Raphael Saadiq, Ludwig Göransson. Lyrics by: Raphael Saadiq, Ludwig Göransson)
“NO PLACE LIKE HOME” – WICKED: FOR GOOD (Music by: Stephen Schwartz. Lyrics by: Stephen Schwartz
“THE GIRL IN THE BUBBLE” – WICKED: FOR GOOD (Music by: Stephen Schwartz. Lyrics by: Stephen Schwartz)
“TRAIN DREAMS” – TRAIN DREAMS (Music by: Nick Cave, Bryce Dessner. Lyrics by: Nick Cave)

BEST TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA

THE DIPLOMAT (NETFLIX)
THE PITT (HBO MAX)*
PLURIBUS (APPLE TV)
SEVERANCE (APPLE TV)
SLOW HORSES (APPLE TV)
THE WHITE LOTUS (HBO MAX)

BEST TELEVISION SERIES – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

ABBOTT ELEMENTARY (ABC)
THE BEAR (FX ON HULU)
HACKS (HBO MAX)
NOBODY WANTS THIS (NETFLIX)
ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING (HULU)
THE STUDIO (APPLE TV)*

BEST TELEVISION LIMITED SERIES, ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

ADOLESCENCE (NETFLIX)*
ALL HER FAULT (PEACOCK)
THE BEAST IN ME (NETFLIX)
BLACK MIRROR (NETFLIX)
DYING FOR SEX (FX ON HULU)
THE GIRLFRIEND (PRIME VIDEO)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA

KATHY BATES (MATLOCK)
BRITT LOWER (SEVERANCE)
HELEN MIRREN (MOBLAND)
BELLA RAMSEY (THE LAST OF US)
KERI RUSSELL (THE DIPLOMAT)
RHEA SEEHORN (PLURIBUS)*

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA

STERLING K. BROWN (PARADISE)
DIEGO LUNA (ANDOR)
GARY OLDMAN (SLOW HORSES)
MARK RUFFALO (TASK)
ADAM SCOTT (SEVERANCE)
NOAH WYLE (THE PITT)*

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

KRISTEN BELL (NOBODY WANTS THIS)
AYO EDEBIRI (THE BEAR)
SELENA GOMEZ (ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING)
NATASHA LYONNE (POKER FACE)
JENNA ORTEGA (WEDNESDAY)
JEAN SMART (HACKS)*

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

ADAM BRODY (NOBODY WANTS THIS)
STEVE MARTIN (ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING)
GLEN POWELL (CHAD POWERS)
SETH ROGEN (THE STUDIO)*
MARTIN SHORT (ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING)
JEREMY ALLEN WHITE (THE BEAR)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES, ANTHOLOGY SERIES, OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

CLAIRE DANES (THE BEAST IN ME)
RASHIDA JONES (BLACK MIRROR)
AMANDA SEYFRIED (LONG BRIGHT RIVER)
SARAH SNOOK (ALL HER FAULT)
MICHELLE WILLIAMS (DYING FOR SEX)*
ROBIN WRIGHT (THE GIRLFRIEND)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES, ANTHOLOGY SERIES, OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

JACOB ELORDI (THE NARROW ROAD TO THE DEEP NORTH)
PAUL GIAMATTI (BLACK MIRROR)
STEPHEN GRAHAM (ADOLESCENCE)*
CHARLIE HUNNAM (MONSTER: THE ED GEIN STORY)
JUDE LAW (BLACK RABBIT)
MATTHEW RHYS (THE BEAST IN ME)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE ON TELEVISION

CARRIE COON (THE WHITE LOTUS)
ERIN DOHERTY (ADOLESCENCE)*
HANNAH EINBINDER (HACKS)
CATHERINE O’HARA (THE STUDIO)
PARKER POSEY (THE WHITE LOTUS)
AIMEE LOU WOOD (THE WHITE LOTUS)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE ON TELEVISION

OWEN COOPER (ADOLESCENCE)*
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Review: ‘Desert Law,’ starring members of police departments in Arizona’s Pima County

January 10, 2026

by Carla Hay

“Desert Law”

Culture Representation: The documentary series “Ozark Law” features a racially diverse group of people (mostly white, Latin and black) who are connected in some way to law enforcement in Arizona’s Pima County.

Culture Clash: Law enforcement officials deal with various people for real or perceived law violations.

Culture Audience: “Desert Law” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in low-budget true crime docuseries that show how law enforcement works in a specific region of the United States.

“Desert Law” is a very boring and inferior version of “Cops.” This docuseries takes place in Arizona’s Pima County, but the show’s generic law enforcement interactions don’t set this series apart from all the other shows that imitate “Cops.” Ever since “Cops” debuted in 1989, there’s been a slew of copycat shows that have the same format, which is supposed to give viewers the feeling that each episode is a “ride-along” with the patrol officers who are featured on the show.

“Desert Law” is produced by Twenty Twenty Productions for A&E. A&E did not make screener episodes available for review before the series premiere. Therefore, only the series’ first episode, titled “Welcome to Pima County,” will be featured in this review. Tucson is the largest city in Pima County.

“Desert Law” has the expected captioned statements that people who are seen being arrested on the show are innocent until proven guilty, and charges could be reduced or dropped. With few exceptions, if someone is shown being arrested on “Desert Law,” the show has a caption listing that person’s charge or charges. The show does not reveal the names or show the faces (which are blurred out) of most of the who are seen being questioned, detained or arrested by law enforcement in each episode.

Part of the attraction of watching a show like “Cops” is to see the expressions on people’s faces when they interact with the police, especially when people are caught doing something wrong. Because “Desert Law” doesn’t show the faces of people in these circumstances, it makes the show look blander and more generic than similar-concept shows that don’t hide the faces of people who interact with law enforcement. It’s one of the many reasons why “Desert Law” is a forgettable docuseries about cops on the job.

In the beginning of the first “Desert Law” episode, it’s mentioned that the police who work in this part of Arizona often have to work in temperatures that reach more than 100°F. You wouldn’t know it from watching this episode, which filmed Pima County police from May 23 to May 26 (Memorial Day weekend) in 2025. You don’t see anyone mentioning the heat. You don’t even see people sweating, even though most of what is shown in “Desert Law” takes place outdoors.

The police featured in the episode are hard-working and dedicated, but there isn’t much insight into who they are, other than they seem to be on their best behavior because they’re being filmed. Detective Scott McLeod gets the most screen time and talks about his many years on the job (17 years at the time this episode was filmed) and how he would quit being a law enforcement officer if he lost his ability to care about people.

In the beginning of the episode, it’s mentioned that Memorial Day is a busy weekend for law enforcement because of all the partying going on. Will these cops make a lot of arrests of rowdy, intoxicated people? No. Almost all the calls that the police are shown responding to are fairly tame, except for the first and last incidents in the episode.

The first incident shows McLeod and a deputy named Rebecca Allen as among the police who get involved in a vehicle chase that also has a police helicopter joining in on the hunt. The suspect gets out of a truck, after trying to ram other cars to get out of the way. Luckily, no one is hurt during this chase. The suspect gets tased by police and is arrested.

Fentanyl and drug paraphernalia are found in the suspect’s truck. He’s arrested on multiple charges, including resisting arrest and possession of a narcotic drug. McLeod comments, “This town is plagued with fentanyl.” It’s the only fentanyl-related arrested that’s shown in the episode.

The episode then drags with fairly uneventful incidents. Deputy Isaiah Alvarez responds to a call in the city of Ajo about a suspected thief who stole items from a gas station convenience store. The man who is stopped by police is hostile and defensive, as he’s detained in a police car and rants about being abused by police in the past. He turns out not to be the theft suspect, but he is arrested for an outstanding warrant for disorderly conduct.

A deputy named Anthony Stewart is a British immigrant who good-naturedly jokes about how people react to his British accent. Stewart is seen patrolling a park after it’s closed, to look for trespassers. On three separate occasions, Stewart is shown catching three different couples having sex in a vehicle in a deserted parking lot. No one is arrested, and he lets each couple go with a warning.

Stewart also has a friendly warning response to a nervous young woman who is seen wandering alone in the park’s parking lot. She makes repeated apologies because she says she didn’t known the park was closed. He tells her to leave (her car is parked nearby) and to drive safely. Not exactly dangerous crime-busting cases.

On a residential street away from the park, Stewart is shown responding to a noise complaint about a loud party, whose hosts agree to lower the volume of the party. One of the party hosts makes a remark to Stewart about Stewart’s British accent, by asking if Stewart is from London and asking if Brits say “bloody hell” and “crikey.” Stewart says he’s from England, but not the city of London. Stewart also tells him that although “bloody hell” is a British term, “crikey” is Australian slang from Australia.

This episode of “Desert Law” shows more people getting a warning instead of getting arrested. A man is briefly detained for driving in the wrong direction on a highway. It turns out that his SUV had an expected malfunction and can only operate in reverse. He thanks the police for helping him.

In a separate incident, McLeod detains a man who’s with a topless, emaciated-looking female passenger in the man’s car. A small amount of drugs are found in the vehicle. After McLeod asks him how long he’s been addicted, the man admits he’s addicted to drugs, especially cocaine. Because not enough drugs are found in the car, the detainee and his companion are let go with a warning. The drug-addicted man makes a not-very-convincing comment that he will consider getting professional help for his addiction.

The last incident shows someone getting arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) and failing to remain at the scene of a fatal car accident. The male suspect was driving a truck that hit another man on a highway. The accident victim was dead by the time the police arrived. The suspect, who is shown refusing to take a breathalyzer test, has a passenger who is a cooperating witness. It’s the most compelling case, but it’s rushed in so quickly in the last 10 minutes of the episode, it barely makes an impact.

Two deputies are featured in this DUI investigation: Anthony Pool and Dylan Ellis-Hollings. Pool has the more memorable personality because he brags that his nickname is The DUI Guy because of all the DUI arrests that he’s made. Pool claims that he’s responsible for “50%” of the DUI arrests in Pima County. The show doesn’t verify if this claim is true or not.

“Desert Law” might be adequate enough for people who don’t get tired of TV shows that document what law enforcement does on the streets. However, there’s a glut of these shows that all tend to look the same. The police work that helps society can be commended, but in “Desert Law,” viewers won’t learn anything new if they’ve seen these types of “ride-along” shows many times before.

A&E premiered “Desert Law” on January 7, 2026.

Review: ‘Crime in Progress,’ an episodic series about various crimes and investigations captured mostly on police camera footage

January 9, 2026

by Carla Hay

“Crime in Progress”

Culture Representation: The documentary series “Crime in Progress” features a racially diverse group of people who are connected to law enforcement or crimes in some way.

Culture Clash: The TV series has compilation of mostly police camera footage (such body cams and dashboard cams) to show how police reacted to a crime in progress.

Culture Audience: “Crime in Progress” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of low-budget true crime documentaries that show the perspectives of law enforcement at crime scenes and investigating crimes.

A fugitive tries to hide from New Mexico police in “Crime in Progress” (Photo courtesy of A&E)

Using raw footage that is mostly from police cameras, “Crime in Progress” is a gripping and suspenseful true crime documentary series, thanks to skillful editing. Each episode has a different case, with no narration or post-investigation interviews. “Crime in Progress” has captions to explain certain things in each episode. It’s a simple but compelling format.

“Crime in Progress” is produced for A&E by the A+E Factual Studios group. Kelly McClurkin is the showrunner, as well as an executive producer, for “Crime in Progress.” Only the first episode of “Crime in Progress” was available to review before the series premiered.

The first episode, titled “Nowhere to Hide,” chronicles the race-against-time hunt for a fugitive who shot and killed police officer Justin Hare in Tucumari, New Mexico, close to 5 a.m. on March 5, 2024. Hare had been responding to a 911 call about a man wearing a hoodie who was trying to flag down passing motorists on a highway. The man was standing next to a white BMW and appeared to be in distress.

Dash cam footage and body cam footage show that Hare was alone when he drove to the scene and approached the man, who said he needed a ride to town because his car had a flat tire. Hare said he could give the man a ride. But instead of accepting this ride, the man shot Hare three times and stole the car.

The episode shows the police’s frantic search for Hare, who was found unconscious in a field off of the side of the highway. Hare later died after medical help arrived. At the same time, police also began the hunt for the fugitive, who was later identified as Jaremy Alexander Smith, someone with a long history of committing other crimes. The entire ordeal lasted 51 hours.

Law enforcement officials from the Mexico State Police are shown throughout this episode. They include police officers Antonio Esparza, Xavier Garcia, Nathan Schwebach, and Jordan Romero; deputies Mario Chavez Thicc’ums, Roxanne Sanchez, Robert Lowe and Jose De La Cruz; sergeant Robert Ramirez; sheriff Dennis Garcia; and lieutenant Nicholas Marrujo.

Mexico State Police chief W. Troy Weisler is seen in a press conference where he gets a little bit choked up when he announces that Hare has died and shows a dash cam photo of fugitive Smith, who is wanted for first-degree murder and other crimes during this manhunt. Weisler gives a harsh “we’re going to get you” warning during this press conference. The hunt for Smith includes responding to callers’ tips, interviewing witnesses, a foot chase and a shootout in a residential Albuquerque neighborhood. The legal outcome of this criminal case is included in the episode’s epilogue.

In documentaries such as “Crime in Progress,” there’s an inherent assumption that the suspect or suspects will be arrested at the conclusion of the investigation that’s documented on camera. But this show also reveals the unfiltered emotions of law enforcement on the scene, whether it’s a cop giving encouragement to a dying colleague; the adrenaline and anxiety of police chasing a suspect; or the grief of law enforcement mourning the loss of a respected colleague.

The series premiere episode of “Crime in Progress” includes footage from the funeral service of Hare, who left behind a wife and two sons. Hare is described as a fantastic person who cared deeply about other people. Only the most cynical and cold-hearted people won’t feel anything after seeing this funeral footage. “Crime in Progress” lives up to its title but it admirably doesn’t leave out the aftermath of the criminal cases that are featured in each episode.

A&E premiered “Crime in Progress” on January 1, 2026.

Review: ‘The Cult Behind the Killer: The Andrea Yates Story,’ starring Rusty Yates, Moses Storm, David De La Isla, Wendell Odom Jr., Douglas Roberts, Phillip Resnick and Todd Frank

January 8, 2026

by Carla Hay

“The Cult Behind the Killer: The Andrea Yates Story”

Directed by Elli Hakami and Julian P. Hobbs

Culture Representation: The three-episode docuseries “The Cult Behind the Killer: The” features a predominantly white group of people (with one Hispanic people) talking about the connection between confessed child killer Andrea Yates (who drowned all five of her children their Houston home in 2001) and a controversial cult whose leader who denied any wrongdoing.

Culture Clash: Several people interviewed in the documentary believe that cult leader/traveling preacher Michael Woroniecki pushed Yates over the edge of sanity and motivated her to murder her children.

Culture Audience: “The Cult Behind the Killer: The Andrea Yates Story” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in watching documentaries about how extremist cults control people’s lives and could brainwash people to commit violent acts.

Michael Woroniecki and Rachel Woroniecki in “The Cult Behind the Killer: The Andrea Yates Story” (Photo courtesy of Investigation Discovery)

“The Cult Behind the Killer: The Andrea Yates Story” has a conspiracy theory agenda that might be considered plausible, but this docuseries leaves room for doubt because not enough is explored or explained about the killer’s individual responsibility in causing a horrific murder spree of her five children. The documentary does not include information that the killer had a troubled history of mental health issues long before she became a mother. This uneven docuseries rehashes the decades-old theory that child killer Andrea Yates was brainwashed by cult leader Michael Woroniecki. The interviews (including with Andrea’s ex-husband Rusty Yates) are better than the film editing.

This documentary should not have been subtitled “The Andrea Yates Story” because the documentary tells more about Woroniecki (a traveling American preacher who declined to be interviewed for the documentary) than it does about Andrea Yates. Woroniecki claims to be a non-denominational Christian. There is no official name for his cult, and he denies that he is a cult leader. Woroniecki has not been arrested for any crimes related to the Andrea Yates case.

Directed by Elli Hakami and Julian P. Hobbs, “The Cult Behind the Killer: The Andrea Yates Story” has three episodes but spends way too much time in the first episode focusing on interviews with the same three people: Rusty Yates and former Woroniecki cult members Moses Storm and David De La Isla. There should’ve been a better variety of interviews in the first episode. The documentary improves when it brings in other perspectives of people who were connected in some way to Andrea’s trials, instead of just being a compilation of interviews with former Woroniecki cult members who have bad things to say about him.

Andrea Yates (a former nurse who became a homemaker after becoming a mother) is considered one of the world’s most notorious killers because of what she did at her Houston home on June 21, 2001. While her husband Rusty was at work at his NASA job, Andrea (who was 36 years old at the time) drowned all five of the couple’s children in the house’s bathtub. Andrea called 911 and immediately confessed to murdering son Noah (born in 1994), son John (born in 1995), son Paul (born in 1997), son Luke (born in 1999) and daughter Mary (born in 2000). Andrea was later diagnosed with schizophrenia.

The only reason she gave for these heinous murders was she heard voices in her head telling her that she was a bad mother and the children were possessed by the devil. Andrea pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. In her 2002 trial, Andrea was found guilty of first-degree murder and then sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole in 40 years. However, in 2006, Andrea got a second trial on appeal, after forensic psychiatrist Park Dietz’s testimony in the 2002 trial was discredited. In her 2006 trial, Andrea was found not guilty by reason of insanity and was sentenced to a live in a psychiatric facility. She has been living in these types of facilities in Texas since this sentencing.

Over the years, Rusty (who married Andrea in 1993 and divorced her in 2005) has said in several interviews (including in this documentary) that Andrea had post-partum depression after the birth of their son Luke. According to Rusty, Andrea was taking prescribed medication for this depression, but she had stopped taking the medication before the birth of their daughter Mary. Rusty says that Andrea’s post-partum depression got much worse after the birth of Mary, to the point where Andrea was “catatonic” and he didn’t know what Andrea was thinking.

In the documentary, Rusty repeats what he has said in other interviews about how he felt and what he experienced after this horrific tragedy that destroyed his family. He says if he had any idea that Andrea would murder their children, he would’ve handled things much differently. Rusty has since remarried and had a son with his second wife. This information is mentioned briefly in the documentary’s captioned epilogue. Rusty doesn’t talk about his second wife and their son in this documentary.

Episode 1, titled “Indoctrination,” gives a quick summary of the relationship between Rusty and Andrea and then details how Woroniecki became a cult leader who preached separatism and taught that children should be physically abused in the name of discipline. Episode 2, titled “The Terror Within,” continues stories from former Woroniecki followers about how his cult nearly ruined their lives. Episode 3, titled “Revelation,” has discussions of Andrea’s trials and why her second trial resulted in a not guilty verdict.

In the documentary, Rusty gives a very rosy description of his courtship and the early years of his marriage to Andrea. What the documentary doesn’t mention is Andrea had a long history of mental illness, going back to her teenage years, when she had clinical depression and expressed suicidal thoughts. The documentary misleadingly makes it look like Andrea’s mental health issues started when she had post-partum depression as an adult. It’s fair to point out that millions of women have had post-partum depression and don’t end up killing their children.

The documentary presents the theory that something—namely, Woroniecki’s brainwashing—was the trigger that pushed Andrea over the edge into becoming a murderer of children. It’s a theory that first surfaced in the aftermath of Andrea’s arrest in 2001, when it became public that Andrea had been communicating with Woroniecki for years. By the time Andrea was arrested, Woroniecki had a horrible reputation of leading a cult that preached that children deserved to be physically abused.

Woroniecki (who was raised in the Catholic religion) was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on February 4, 1954. He was a star football player at the Central Michigan University, where he graduated in 1976, with a bachelor of science degree in behavioral science. After graduating from Central Michigan University, Woroniecki became immersed in religious teachings, by enrolling in various theology schools and seminaries. He tried to become a Catholic priest and was rejected.

In 1979, he married Leslie Jean Ochalek, who later changed her name to Rachel Rebekah Woroniecki. The couple had six children who would be in family videos that were sent to the cult’s followers. The documentary includes archival clips of some of this footage, which shows Michael doing most of the talking, while his wife and children agree with everything he says.

It should come as no surprise that Michael’s preaching demanded that women and children always had to be subservient to men. Michael’s wife Rachel also preached this backwards way of thinking. She declined to be interviewed for this documentary. Michael was eventually banned from his hometown of Grand Rapids for physically attacking a woman during one of his street-preaching appearances in Grand Rapids.

According to the former cult members interviewed in the documentary, Michael has a fixation on butterflies and preaches that only he, his wife and their six kids are the chosen eight butterflies who will be allowed to enter heaven. Michael would hint that other people could be given this elite status too if they followed what he said. Otherwise, they would be comdemened to spend the afterlife in purgatory or in hell.

Unlike many religion-based cults that have an image of cult members living in a communal environment, the members of Michael’s cult have always been spread out all over the world and don’t have a central place that can be considered the cult’s headquarters. By the 1980s, when Michael’s cult began, he had already established himself as a traveling preacher who would communicate with his followers by newsletters and by sending audio tapes. That communication extended to the Internet and email when the Internet and email became a part of everyday lives.

Rusty and Andrea were among these followers who communicated with Michael remotely. In the documentary, Rusty says he was briefly interested in Michael’s teachings after he saw Michael preach at Auburn University in Alabama when Rusty was a student there. Rusty says lost interest in Michael’s preachings and stopped communicating with Michael. By contrast, Andrea still communicated with Michael for years. At the time, Rusty didn’t see the harm, and he didn’t want to control any of Andrea’s religious interests.

Michael and his family had a nomadic lifestyle. They lived on a bus for many years. His children were homeschooled. And if Michael’s followers had children, his followers were ordered to have those children homeschooled too. Michael taught his followers that outside influences, such as traditional schools, traditional churches and the government, were evil and should be avoided, according to Storm, who says he grew up in the cult because his parents were cult members.

In his documentary interview, Storm (who works as a stand-up comedian in Los Angeles) often gets emotional and tearful as he shares painful childhood memories of the physical and emotional abuse that he and his siblings suffered because of the cult’s teachings. Storm says his mother was more fanatical about the cult than his father, but his parents both participated in the abuse of their children. In the documentary, Storm says he has to choose his words carefully because a part of him is still afraid of Michael.

Storm tells a story about how one of his sisters, who was 12 at the time, was severely beaten by Storm’s parents because she made a friend (a girl who was about the same age) outside of the family. Storm also remembers it was not unusual for him to get spanked and assaulted by his parents for something as a small as his parents thinking he was acting “haughty.” He thought this type of punishment was normal until he found out in his childhood that the abuse was wrong, and other families did not abuse their kids.

According to Storm, the cult encourages its members to isolate themselves to lessen the chances that the members would be in contact with others who could tell them that the cult’s teachings are wrong. In the documentary, Storm says that his family could’ve easily ended up like the Yates family because of the way his mother (under Michael’s preaching) began to believe that her children were evil. Storm does not give details about what his parents (who are now divorced) currently think of the cult, but he says when he found out about Andrea Yates and the heinous murders she committed, he felt weirdly “jealous” that the children would no longer have to live with this abusive mother.

Former cult member De La Isla (who is now a retired pharmaceutical executive living in Houston) says he got lured into the cult when he saw Michael preach at Texas A&M University, where De La Isla was a student in the 1980s. He remembers that Michael’s motto at the time was “Crazy War.” De La Isla says that he was attracted to Michael’s philosophy of not becoming a slave to materialism.

De La Isla says that he wrote to Michael to hear more about Michael’s teachings. In hindsight, De La Isla says, “It was the biggest mistake of my life.” De La Isla was in Michael’s cult for 12 years.

After graduating from Texas A&M, De La Isla says he had a good-paying sales job at a Fortune 500 company and was rising through the ranks of the company. However, De La Isla says that Michael pressured De La Isla to quit this job to focus on Michael’s version of spirituality and not worry about money. De La Isla believed Michael’s preaching that his followers should drop out of society and not worry about paying bills.

For someone who preached about not being concerned about money, Michael hypocritically pressured his followers to give him monetary donations. De La Isla says in the documentary that he gave a little under $20,000 to Michael over a 10-year period. The documentary doesn’t include any information about any donations that Andrea Yates might have given to this cult leader.

De La Isla also blames cult brainwashing for why he broke up with a fiancée because she questioned the cult’s teaching. He gets choked up with emotion when he expresses his regret about this breakup. At the time, De La Isla says he believed Michael’s preaching that women are witches, and men have to control women. (In an archival clip, Michael is seen saying, “In the heart of women is Satan.”)

Other people interviewed in the documentary are Wendell Odom Jr., Andrea’s most recent defense attorney; Dr. Phillip Resnick, a forensic psychiatrist who testified in Andrea’s second trial that Andrea was heavily influenced by Michael Woroniecki; former Woroniecki cult member Douglas Roberts, who started an anti-Michael Woroniecki website; Todd Frank, who was the jury foreman in Andrea’s second trial; Suzy Spencer, author of “Breaking Point,” a 2002 non-fiction book about Andrea Yates; cult intervention expert Ashlen Hillierd; and Steve Grinczel, who knew Michael Woroniecki from when they were friends in high school and describes Michael as being an arrogant jock when they were students.

In the beginning of the documentary, Rusty is skeptical about how much influence Woroniecki could have had in the murders of the Yates children. However, Rusty changes his mind when he has a face-to-face meeting with Storm, who believes Storm’s mother could’ve easily been brainwashed by Woroniecki to kill her own kids. Regardless if viewers believe this theory or not, it’s an emotionally powerful moment that shows how victims can have some healing when speaking with each other. And even though “The Cult Behind the Killer: The Andrea Yates Story” has some typical characteristics of a sensationalistic true crime documentary (including somewhat cheesy re-enactments), it succeeds in its purpose in showing the damage caused by cult mind control and how the Yates family tragedy did not happen without warning signs.

Investigation Discovery premiered “The Cult Behind the Killer: The Andrea Yates Story” on January 6, 2026.