Unbelievable is just that. Unbelievable. If it were fiction you'd think they were stretching it so to find out it is true is just mind-blowing. Essentially Unbelievable follows the story of a young girl called Marie (Kaitlyn Dever) who was raped by an intruder in 2008. Doing all the right things, she goes to the police and reports the crime.
But the two detectives in charge start to poke holes in her story and convince her to admit that she made the whole thing up. Now, Marie is a young girl who has spent years in the system and for her own sense of self-preservation, and knowing they don't believe her, she tells them that she lied. Annoyed to have had their time wasted, they decide to press charges against her.
Fast forward seven or so years and on the other side of the country, a detective in Colorado, Karen Duvall, is called out on a rape case. The victim is Amber (Danielle Macdonald) and her ordeal was frankly horrendous. But she had the presence of mind to remember almost every single thing that happened to her. As Det. Duvall tells her husband, a police officer, what happened to Amber, he tells her that his precinct had a very similar case. That's when Det. Duvall (Merritt Wever from Godless) contacts Det. Grace Rasmussen (Toni Collette).
The two detectives agree to work on the cases together figuring that they are dealing with a very sophisticated serial rapist. What follows is the arduous task of trying to find a man who doesn't leave any trace. He also commits his crimes, in completely different areas so police departments across the state have no idea they are all chasing the same guy.
As I said Unbelievable is unbelievable. But not just the story. Everything about this limited series on Netflix is superb. The script, the acting, the pace, the meticulous work that went into finding the man responsible. Toni Collette and Merrit Wever are outstanding but huge praise must also go to Kaitlyn Dever and Danielle Macdonald for the emotional and complex roles that they played expertly.
It is an outstanding show that was nominated and won a huge number of awards. And rightfully so.
