Netflix Digs Into the Disappearance on Shanann Watts With ‘American Murder’ Trailer

Netflix‘s new true crime doc digs into one of the most devastating murders of the past few years. American Murder: The Family Next Door tells the story of Shanann Watts, her two young daughters and her husband, Chris Watts. A then-pregnant Shannan and her daughters made headlines in 2018 when they suddenly went missing from their Colorado town — and while Chris initially denied having anything to do with his wife and daughters’ disappearances, he eventually confessed to their murders.

In a newly released trailer for American Murder, we see the beginnings of Chris and Shanann’s relationship and how happy they seemed together. “I went through one of the darkest times of my life, and then I met Chris,” Shanann says in a video featured in today’s trailer. “And he’s one of the best things that ever happened to me.”  But their relationship takes a turn after years of happiness, and their marriage is tested by rumors and accusations of infidelity.

“She said things were bad,” a friend of Shanann’s says. “And that she didn’t know what was going on with Chris. I’m worried sick. This is completely unlike her.” In another video, Shannan says Chris said that she has “tortured him” and “rejected him.”

The upcoming true crime doc comes from director Jenny Popplewell and producer and Academy Award winner James Marsh, who directed The Theory of Everything. “Told entirely through archival footage that includes social media posts, law enforcement recordings, text messages and never-before-seen home videos, director Jenny Popplewell pieces together an immersive and truthful examination of a police investigation and a disintegrating marriage,” Netflix’s official description of the film reads. “American Murder: The Family Next Door is the first film to give a voice to the victims.”

American Murder: The Family Next Door premieres on Netflix Sept. 30. Watch the full trailer in the video above.