| Don't F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer | |
|---|---|
 Promotional release poster | |
| Genre | |
| Written by | Mark Lewis |
| Directed by | Mark Lewis |
| Composer | Andrew Skeet |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 3 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Producers |
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| Cinematography | Stefano Ferrari |
| Editors |
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| Running time | 57–66 minutes |
| Production company | Raw TV |
| Original release | |
| Network | Netflix |
| Release | December 18, 2019 (2019-12-18) |
Don't F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer is a 2019true crimedocuseries about an online manhunt.[1] It is written and directed by Mark Lewis[2] and was released onNetflix on December 18, 2019.[1][3] The series chronicles events following a crowd-sourced amateur investigation into a series ofanimal cruelty acts committed by Canadian pornographic actor Luka Magnotta, culminating in hismurder of Jun Lin, a student from China who was studying atConcordia University. It was one of Netflix's Top 5 most-watched documentaries of 2019.[4]
The three-part docuseries follows a group of amateur internetsleuths who launched a manhunt for Luka Magnotta after he gained international notoriety in 2010 for sharing a video online of himself killing twokittens in a plastic bag by suffocating them with a vacuum cleaner.[1][5] Magnotta was later convicted ofmurdering Jun Lin in 2012.[6][7]
The series started with Deanna Thompson, a data analyst for a casino inLas Vegas, and John Green, fromLos Angeles.[5] In 2010, aviral video called1 boy 2 kittens was linked on Facebook and posted onYouTube. The video shows a man playing with two kittens before he puts them in a very tightvacuum seal bag and vacuums out the air, suffocating the kittens. Thompson and Green subsequently joined aFacebook group to build evidence and find the perpetrator. The group worked together to examine the details of the video, including the objects in the room, to help solve the mystery.
| Cast | Role | Episodes |
|---|---|---|
| John Green | Himself | 3 episodes |
| Deanna Thompson | Herself—aka "Baudi Moovan" | 3 episodes |
| Det. Sgt. Claudette Hamlin | Herself—Montreal Police, Homicide | 2 episodes |
| Antonio Paradiso | Himself—Montreal Police, Homicide | 2 episodes |
| Anna Yourkin | Herself—Luka Magnotta's mother | 2 episodes |
| Benjamin Xu | Himself—Jun Lin's best friend | 2 episodes |
| Marc Lilge | Himself—Berlin Police | 2 episodes |
| Mike Nadeau | Himself—Janitor | 1 episode |
| Joe Panz | Himself—Rescue Ink | 1 episode |
| Joe Warmington | Himself—Journalist,Toronto Sun | 1 episode |
| Henri | Himself—Undercover Detective Fugitive Task Force | 1 episode |
| Romeo Salta | Himself—Attorney | 1 episode |
| Kadir Anlayisli | Himself—Internet cafe employee | 1 episode |
| Joel Watts | Himself—Defense psychiatrist | 1 episode |
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Cat and Mouse" | Mark Lewis | Mark Lewis | December 18, 2019 (2019-12-18) | |
A shocking online video brings together a widespread internet group of animal lovers out for justice. Their target, meanwhile, has more horrors planned. | |||||
| 2 | "Killing for Clicks" | Mark Lewis | Mark Lewis | December 18, 2019 (2019-12-18) | |
A new video pushes panic to the next level, galvanizing the "internet nerds" to intensify their own painstaking investigation as police join the hunt. | |||||
| 3 | "Closing the Net" | Mark Lewis | Mark Lewis | December 18, 2019 (2019-12-18) | |
With the killer's identity – and twisted motives – revealed, the group finds more key clues as the global police manhunt reaches a fever pitch. | |||||
Two weeks after its debut, the docuseries became one of Netflix's Top 5 most-watched documentaries of 2019.[4] On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, the series has a 67% approval rating, based on 12 reviews, with an average rating of 8.3/10. The website's consensus reads, "Don't F**k With Cats offers an intriguing tale, but questionable intent and muddled storytelling make it a hard sell for anyone but true crime completists."[8]
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | British Academy Television Awards | Best Factual Series or Strand | Mark Lewis, Felicity Morris, Michael Harte and Dimitri Doganis | Nominated | [9] |
| British Academy Television Craft Awards | Best Director: Factual | Mark Lewis | Nominated | ||
| Best Editing: Factual | Michael Harte | Won | |||
| Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Program | Mark Lewis(for "Closing the Net") | Won | [10] |
In the trial for the 2021murder of Jorge Martin Carreno, prosecutors provided video and audio evidence of the defendant, Scarlet Blake, livestreaming the killing and dissecting of a cat, with theNew Order song "True Faith" playing in the background; they said the defendant's use of the song was in homage to the docuseriesDon't F*** With Cats.[11] Blake was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder. At her sentencing hearing,Mr Justice Chamberlain told Blake "[the] documentary played a part in your own mind in the link between killing a cat and killing a person."[12]
Deanna Thompson, one of the lead presenters of the docuseries, later appeared as a contestant on theseventh season ofThe Mole in 2024.[13]
