There’s one rule…
When a video pops up online showing a man killing two kittens with a vacuum seal back, a Facebook group pops up determined to hunt him down. With few clues, the group finds themselves searching for a needle in a haystack…which could potentially have deadly consequences. When the killer turns his target from cats to a human, the search is no longer just about preventing animal abuse…it is about stopping a potential serial killer.
Directed by Mark Lewis, Don’t F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer is a Netflix documentary series. The three part documentary was released on December 18, 2019.
Going for his 15 minutes of fame
Don’t F**k with Cats was trending on the day of its release on Twitter, and it was the first I had heard of it. I’m a sucker for true-crime documentaries and I hadn’t heard of Luka Magnotta or his crimes. Diving into Don’t F**k with Cats is easy…but steeling yourself to some of what you see isn’t.
The documentary is pretty brutal. It comes as close as you can get to showing animals being killed and a person being killed without showing it. The fact that Luka Magnotta was trying so hard to become a celebrity killer (and playing with people hunting him) adds to the disturbing nature of the films. It isn’t necessarily the crimes of Magnotta that make this documentary interesting.
Call out the armchair detectives…
What does make the documentary interesting is the power of the internet. You could argue that it attracts people like Magnotta but that delves into the whole what makes a killer a killer…do games and movies? Is infamous as good as famous? It also shows how someone like Magnotta didn’t have a chance to escape because of his ties to the internet. You have millions of armchair sleuths, and many of them have the time and means to dive into searching for crimes…something that even police officers can’t do.
One of the disturbing factors of the documentary is how the internet can turn on you. In the course of the “research” by the people into who killed the cats, a mentally ill man makes a claim that he is responsible. He later kills himself. Yes, he was ill and potentially would have harmed himself regardless of the situation, but the hounding he received wasn’t helpful. This is also shown through Magnotta’s mother who struggles to deal with her son’s claims of innocence.
The fact that she can see that she has her own issues helps her case
The other aspect of the story that the documentary brings up is was the Facebook group actually that helpful. While they were able to figure out Magnotta’s identity, no one listened to them because he had yet to commit a crime at the level of killing someone. The killing of animals is awful, but depending on the location of the crime, law enforcement often has their hands tied…and actual murders take center stage. From the documentary, it seems like the law found out Magnotta rather quickly without the Facebook group…it didn’t save Jun Lin, but I also don’t know if Magnotta could have been prevented from killing.
Don’t F**k with Cats does ask the right questions in the end which helps redeem the documentary. Does making documentaries about killers like Magnotta give Magnotta exactly what they want? What about those who watch the film? I now know about Magnotta when I didn’t know about him before…which is what he’d like. There is also a little coda near the conclusion of the film about his victim Jun Lin, and how he is kind of the forgotten one in all of this story. The documentary isn’t about him, and the idea that a cat’s life is more important to many of those online also is disturbing…but it is a part of society.
Don’t F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer Episode Guide:
“Cat and Mouse”
Episode 1: Cat and Mouse Release Date: 12/18/19
The online appearance of a video of a man killing a cat in a vacuum seal bag spurs a group of animal lovers to try to seek out the killer’s identity. With few clues, finding the man responsible could be like looking for a needle in a haystack…but the internet has ways. With deadly dangers of false claims, Deanna Thomson and John Green and their group try to spearhead the search…which leads to a strange potential internet model named Luka Rocco Magnotta…but Magnotta knows he’s being watched and likes the hunt.
“Killing for Clicks”
Episode 2: Killing for Clicks Release Date: 12/18/19
The cat killer has released a new video of a killing…but this time it is a person. Luka Rocco Magnotta is in hiding and the discovery of a body in Montreal and the group hunting Luca realize they could be in danger. With the police seemingly ignoring them, they seek clues to locating his next move. As Montreal police seek out the killer, friends of Jun Lin question where their friend has gone. Luka’s mother Anna Yourkin learns that something could be wrong with her son.
“Closing the Net”
Episode 3: Closing the Net Release Date: 12/18/19
Luka is on the run in France, and the police are seeking for him. Luka’s mother comes to his defense and points at another killer. Can Luka be captured alive and who is Manny Lopez?
