3 Netflix documentaries to watch if you loved Unknown Number: The High School Catfish | indy100

Unknown Number: The High School Catfish trailer

NETFLIX

Every so often a Netflix documentary comes along that leaves you asking "What the hell just happened?" - and Unknown Number: The High School Catfish has rightfully earned its place in that list.

If you haven't seen it, while it may seem like your run-of-the-mill cyberbullying documentary on the surface, Unknown Number follows a case that rocked Beal City, Michigan, when 13-year-old Lauryn Licari and her then-boyfriend Owen began receiving suspicious texts from an unknown number in 2020.

The ordeal lasted over two years, with daily threats and rude remarks becoming the norm, until eventually police were forced to intervene.

Spoilers below in case you haven't seen it...

Netflix

However, instead of discovering a high school bully or an enemy-past as the perpetrator; it was in fact Lauren's mother, Kendra Licari sending every single message. Mic drop.

In Dec 2022, Kendra Licari was arrested and charged with multiple counts of stalking and using a computer to commit a crime, and wasn't released from prison until 2024, while the documentary was being filmed.

Naturally, everyone has been left totally baffled by her motive.

"Wildest story ever. The fact that the girl’s mother, Kendra Licari, only got 19 months in prison for cyberbullying her own daughter is INSANE", one person wrote.

"The extent of the text messages in #UnknownNumber was very deeply disturbing", another wrote.

Naturally, you're now probably on the hunt for your next watch that provides equal shock factor, so here are three documentaries you're almost guaranteed to love if you enjoyed Unknown Number...

Con Mum

- YouTube www.youtube.com

2025 documentary, Con Mum, tells the story of Graham Hornigold, a high-ranking pastry chef who's had appearances on Masterchef: The Professionals as well as Junior Bake Off, and his mum, who he reunites with after 45 years.

The Longboys doughnut shop owner was born on a British Army base in Germany in 1974, and taken back to the UK by his father shortly after; but in 2020, he was contacted by his birth mother who claimed to be living a lavish lifestyle, and wanted her son to inherit it, insisting she only has months to live.

However, things take a dark turn when his mother, Dionne, claims she's lost access to her funds, and Hornigold begins funding her life of luxury, plunging him into serious debt, thinking the money would come back around.

But when he begins to untangle her web of lies (and find other, unrelated victims she's targeted), she leaves him to pick up the pieces.

Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare

- YouTube www.youtube.com

One of the most-talked-about documentaries of 2024, Sweet Bobby also follows a catfishing disaster, which sees Kirat Assi fall in love with a man she met online from the London Sikh community, named Bobby Jandu.

Their 10-year-relationship would see them never meet; but instead text constantly, and even fall asleep together while on the phone - with her love interest always making an excuse as to why he wasn't available.

The elaborate lies scaled from being shot to being put under a witness protection program.

Assi was still convinced by Jandu, however, after being put in touch with his 'family and friends' too, only deepening the rouse.

Becoming agitated by their lack of in-person contact, Assi went on a mission to track Jandu down - and when she did - the real Bobby Jandu had no idea who she was.

The person she'd been talking to all of this time? Well, they were a little closer to home than you might suspect.

Into The Fire: The Lost Daughter

- YouTube www.youtube.com

Released in 2024, this Charlize Theron-produced documentary-film follows Cathy Terkanian, the biological mother of Aundria Bowman, who in 2010, received a letter to state that the daughter she'd given up for adoption 35 years prior, had gone missing 21 years ago - and she had no idea.

Despite never being in contact with her daughter, Terkanian then set off on a 10-year mission along with the help of amateur sleuths and local authorities to uncover Bowman's whereabouts.

As expected, the story has a twisted and tragic ending.

“Cathy was resilient and followed her intuition all the way to the end to get answers about her daughter,” Theron told Tudum. “I think that sort of tenacity in the face of a bunch of people telling you you’re wrong is something that really resonates with audiences. We so often are taught to trust our gut, but rarely see it in action.”

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