Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart (2026) Dir: Benedict Sanderson

It had been a little while since I had ventured to watch a true crime documentary, something I used to do all the time, but this Netflix original film, directed by Benedict Sanderson, tempted me in with its rather intriguing case. It also featured interview footage from the victim herself - something unfortunately all too rare with many of these kidnapping cases.

Hearing first-hand accounts from those involved in and personally affected by the case was both fascinating and, at times, deeply emotional. I do think that these kinds of documentaries tend to overly dramatise the identity side of the cases, and this film was no different. I understand the temptation to try and emphasise the mystery element of a case, but sometimes it just feels like its dragged out too much, almost for the sake of it.

The case itself is horrifying, of course, and the film did at least reflect that. The accounts of the family, as well as Smart herself, allowed for a superb degree of insight into the way these cases played out from two key perspectives. The usual police interviews were a little frustrating, but that was, in fairness, because of the mistakes that, as always, were made by the officers at the time.

Overall, this was a fairly decent documentary film, which highlighted a bizarre and rather scary true crime case, which I think not many people, especially outside of the United States, would be too familiar with before watching the film. It felt pretty standard, quality wise, as far as most of these documentaries go, which is to say, it did its job, though not perfectly, and not without a hint of gratuitous dramatics added in for effect.