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'American Murder: The Family Next Door': Viewers find Netflix docu 'uncomfortable' and 'sickening' to watch

Even while the investigation was ongoing, many would have found the tragedy disturbing as news reports began to unfurl the real picture

In 2018, before Christopher "Chris" Watts began to be known as the "killer dad," he appeared on television and radio interviews to dispassionately ask for the return of his family — his pregnant wife Shanann and their two daughters, four-year-old Bella and three-year-old Celeste, who had disappeared in the early hours of August 13, 2018, in Frederick, Colorado.

What followed the disappearances was an intense search after Shanann's friend, Nickole Atkinson, called the police because Shanann was not responding to her calls and had missed her doctor's appointment later that morning.

Netflix's latest documentary, 'American Murder: The Family Next Door' chronicles the events on the day of Shanann, Bella, and Cece's disappearance, the days following it as well as the days preceding it. Solely comprising of footage recorded by Shanann posted on social media, law enforcement recordings and never-before-seen home footage, the Netflix true-crime documentary directed by Jenny Popplewell paints a thorough picture of the events that really transpired. 

Even while the investigation was ongoing, many would have found the tragedy disturbing as news reports began to unfurl the real picture. Unfortunately, for many viewers, the Netflix documentary helped reopen that and many have described watching the documentary as painful as when it happened.

A viewer tweeted, "If you haven’t watched the Chris Watts documentary on Netflix you need to. I am sick to my stomach." Another wrote, "I’ve already watched a docuseries on the Shannan Watts triple murder, but this Netflix version, showing all her Facebook videos is uncomfortably intimate."

A user shared, "Watched the Chris Watts doc. On Netflix and man is my stomach really upset after listening to him talk about how he did it. I could have thrown up..." Another opined, "i’m watching this new netflix doc on christ watts and it’s so disturbing. he seemed SO normal and Shannan and her family were so manipulated. UGH it makes me nauseous to think about. no one deserves what they went through. people are so scary." A viewer wrote, "American murder on Netflix is wild. I’ve heard this story on several crime podcasts, but seeing the real footage is sickening. Chris watts is trash."

It has also been reported that an officer who was among the team that helped retrieve the children's bodies, suffers from trauma on recovering Bella's and Cece's bodies from oil tankers after they had been submerged for days.

'American Murder: The Family Next Door' is now streaming on Netflix.