On Netflix, this forty-five minute documentary is titled Joseph Fritzl: Story of a Monster. It isn’t a surprise that given the fact that I read books written by Elizabeth Smart, Jaycee Dugard, Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus that I would watch Joseph Fritzl: Story of a Monster.
For those of you unfamiliar with the Austrian case, in 2008, Joseph Fritzl finally released his daughter, Elisabeth, after 24 years (when she was 18 to 42) of holding her prisoner in his basement, raping and forcing her to have seven children (one died; three lived exclusively in the basement, and three were “abandoned” at the doorstep by their mother….not).
Joseph Fritzl: Story of a Monster goes into slightly more detail than the headlines, but is more Dateline than a documentary or even 48 Hours or a Diane Sawyer special because only friends, former tenants and Fritzl’s sister-in-law give interviews. Most of them claim to have no idea that Fritzl is such a freak show, but the sister in law practically jumps up and down while screaming, “I KNEW IT. NOBODY LISTENED TO ME!!!” The biggest reveal for me was that Fritzl was a convicted rapist and attempted rape of a stranger before, but his Wikipedia page gives more details.
While Fritzl is only featured in home videos, his words are used throughout Joseph Fritzl: Story of a Monster, and we don’t hear from Elisabeth, which is fine because she should do whatever she wants. If she does write a book, I’ll buy it and read it. Hearing his words without any real time contrasting viewpoint was frustrating. Oh, she was too wild and running with the wrong crowd, so you HAD to imprison and rape her. And, um, so when are we going to just say that he probably did the same thing to his elderly mother? Not today. OK.
Joseph Fritzl: Story of a Monster is really more of a recap and place for people to express their shock that they didn’t know that Fritzl is a complete reprobate. There are subtitles. Joseph Fritzl: Story of a Monster isn’t must see tv, but it is short enough that if you followed the story in the news, watching it won’t be a waste of your time.