We all get sucked in by sensational headlines and beyond belief news stories, but there is no shame in admitting that not everyone has a stomach strong enough for the darker side of true crime. Leave the serial killers and the gruesome tales for those not burdened by nightmares. But what then does the avid true crime lover do? 

Luckily, there are plenty of crazy true crime — and alleged crime — stories out there that don’t involve body bags. Enjoy the juicy details with none of the blood spatter as you stream these fascinating true crime documentaries with nary a dead body.

Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing

The Offense: Piper Rockelle was always a performer. She was in pageants from a young age, and was a top creator on the app Musical.ly by the time she turned 9. Raised by a single mom, Tiffany Smith, who always had her camera out, Piper also thrived on YouTube. Tiffany’s younger boyfriend, Hunter Hill, suggested Piper invite her friends and fellow YouTube kids to cross-produce content, calling themselves “The Squad.” Then, in 2022, 11 former members of The Squad accused Tiffany and Hunter of violating child labor laws, inappropriate and sexual misconduct, and abusive behavior. The ensuing lawsuit reveals the dark underbelly of this under-regulated side of the internet.

The Victims: The plaintiffs in the case against Tiffany and Hunter were 11 minors and their parents, a few of whom speak up in the documentary to relay their experiences of life in the content mill that was The Squad. Piper continues to stand by her mother, proclaiming her innocent of the charges against her.

The Verdict: Tiffany and Hunter denied all the allegations against them, including pushing the kids into 12-hour work days, having inappropriate sexual discussions, and even the wild story that Tiffany sold her own daughter’s underwear to older men. You can watch to see where they ended up, but rest assured their child-star empire certainly took a hit.

Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing

3 Episodes   TV-MA   2025

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Wild Wild Country

The Offense: In 1981, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, a 49-year-old guru from India, founded Rajneeshpuram in rural Oregon. Built to be an agricultural commune on the more than 60,000 acres of land his organization purchased. Having started his movement in the ’60s in his home country, the Bhagwan quickly grew his community thanks to his right-hand administrator, Ma Anand Sheela, who he met and recruited at the age of 16. From 1981 to 1985, the community would grow, manipulate local politics, and scandalize its neighbors in Antelope, Oregon, with sexual antics, drug use, attempted poisoning, and a stymied murder plot.

The Victims: The people of Antelope were put through the ringer in dealing with neighbors whose values and practices were very different from what they were used to. Though of course, they had their own internalized prejudices exacerbating the ordeal. Add in the questionable practices of the cult members, marginalized people shipped in to add to the community’s numbers, and the internal warring among the cult’s leaders, and there are plenty who were harmed over the years.

The Verdict: This six-part series gets, ahem, wilder and wilder as it progresses, so you’ll have to watch to see it all play out. But needless to say when the organization cracks from the inside, officials get involved and the crimes of the cult are addressed. 

Wild Wild Country

Limited Series   TV-MA   2018

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Our Father

The Offense: Jacoba Ballard took a genetic DNA test in 2014. She knew she was the child of a sperm donor and was curious for information about her genetic father. What she didn’t expect was to find an overwhelming number of half-siblings, more than 50, all of whom she soon discovered shared more than just their DNA, they were all the product of former fertility doctor, Donald Cline, who used his own semen to inseminate dozens of women without their knowledge. An elder in his church, Cline believed that populating the world was a moral duty. The documentary probes into Don’s extremist religious views and the lengths he went to intimidate his donor children from pursuing a case against him, giving us an unsettling look into his crimes.

The Victims: The number of children born of Cline’s DNA has reached close to 100 with more revealed as new members join genetic testing sites. 

The Verdict: We won’t lie, this documentary is not an all’s-well-that-ends-well tale. However, it raises awareness for the continued debate on consent and bodily autonomy at play in the United States.

Our Father

1h 37m   TV-MA   2022

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