The true-crime genre, either podcasts or documentaries or documentary series, is proving to be quite the boon for streamers and anyone who places a premium on churn and time spent. Adjacent to that genre is the true-crime serial killer genre, and Netflix and filmmaker Joe Berlinger are going all-in on it. After directing two Ted Bundy projects, “Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes,” and the drama film “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile,” starring Zac Efron as Bundy, Berlinger is returning to the streamer for another ‘Conversations With A Killer’ series, but this time on notorious John Wayne Gacy.
READ MORE: The Best Documentaries Of The Decade [2010s]
Fittingly titled, “Conversations with a Killer: The John Wayne Gacy Tapes,” Berlinger’s doc presumably follows a lot of the same format, which is a deep investigative dive into who Gacy was, how he turned into the monster he became, what atrocities he committed and what, from his upbringing and the culture he was raised in allowed him to turn into a killer.
Berlinger is, of course, one of the most acclaimed American documentarians, known for esteemed doc works like “Brother’s Keeper,” the celebrated “Paradise Lost,” documentary trilogy “Whitey: United States of America v. James J. Bulger” and “Intent To Destroy: Death, Denial, and Depiction,” many of them made with his since departed filmmaking partner Bruce Sinofsky who passed away in 2015.
Here’s the official synopsis:
Serial killer John Wayne Gacy was an aspiring politician, beloved local contractor, and part-time clown-for-hire who murdered 33 young men between 1972 and 1976. The majority of his victims were found buried under his house, in the quiet northwest suburbs of Chicago. Fifty years later, DNA scientists are still trying to identify all of his victims, but thanks to 60 hours of unearthed audio between Gacy and his defense team, we have fresh perspective on the narcissistic mindset of the murderer and a deeper understanding of how he operated for so long with impunity. The second installment in an ongoing series from filmmaker Joe Berlinger (Conversations With a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes), this three-part documentary also features new interviews with key participants – some of whom have never talked before, including gut-wrenching testimony from one of Gacy’s survivors – all in search of answers to a crucial question: How was a public figure like Gacy able to get away with murder for so long?
A RadicalMedia Production in association with Third Eye Motion Picture Company and Mike Mathis Productions, “Conversations with a Killer: The John Wayne Gacy Tapes,” debuts April 20 on Netflix with three one-hour episodes in total. Check out the trailer below.