What are the ingredients for a captivating documentary or docuseries? Murder? Drugs? Wild animals? Cults? Or maybe all you need is a truly eccentric subject that you can’t pry your eyes away from? Well in “Tiger King,” the upcoming Netflix docuseries, you can check all those off the list. Basically, this shit is wild.
As seen in the first trailer for “Tiger King,” on face value, the story seems pretty simple—a wild, backwoods guy buys a bunch of wild tigers and becomes known as a tiger guy, which pisses off an animal rights woman that wants to see all tigers released from captivity. But that’s just the beginning, as the story goes off the rails to include murder-for-hire, drugs, cults, and yes, even explosions.
The docuseries is written and directed by Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin.
“Tiger King” arrives on Netflix on March 20.
Here’s the synopsis:
Among the eccentrics and cult personalities in the stranger-than-fiction world of big cat owners, few stand out more than Joe Exotic, a mulleted, gun-toting polygamist and country western singer who presides over an Oklahoma roadside zoo. Charismatic but misguided, Joe and an unbelievable cast of characters including drug kingpins, conmen, and cult leaders all share a passion for big cats, and the status and attention their dangerous menageries garner. But things take a dark turn when Carole Baskin, an animal activist and owner of a big cat sanctuary, threatens to put them out of business, stoking a rivalry that eventually leads to Joe’s arrest for a murder-for-hire plot, and reveals a twisted tale where the only thing more dangerous than a big cat is its owner.