So Netflix is dropping a new documentary on 30 October called Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers, and the pitch is rare footage and never-before-seen death row interviews. Before we all binge it this weekend, let’s talk about who Aileen Wuornos actually was, because her story is a lot messier than the “female serial killer” headline suggests.
The short version
Between late 1989 and 1990, seven men were shot dead along Florida’s highways. All of them had picked up a woman hitchhiking or working as a sex worker along the road. That woman was Aileen Wuornos.
She was arrested in January 1991 at a biker bar in Daytona, after pawned belongings of the victims were traced back to her. She confessed, and in 1992 she was sentenced to death. She was executed by lethal injection in Florida in October 2002, at 46.
Why her case is different
Most serial killer stories follow a familiar shape: a predator who hides in plain sight. Aileen’s doesn’t fit. She was homeless for most of her life, had survived abuse from childhood, and lived on the road. Her first claim was self-defence: she said the first victim attacked her and she shot him. Later she changed her story, then changed it back, then said she just wanted to die.
That’s the part that keeps people arguing. Was she a victim who snapped? A killer who learned to perform victimhood? Both? The documentaries made about her (Nick Broomfield’s two films are the big ones) have never settled it, and that’s probably why Netflix is going back in.
The Monster connection
If the name rings a bell, it’s probably because of Monster (2003). Charlize Theron won an Oscar for playing Aileen, and the film leaned hard into the tragic-love-story angle with her girlfriend Tyria Moore. Great movie, but a movie. The real Tyria testified against Aileen at trial, after police recorded their phone calls.
What to watch for in the new doc
- The death row interviews. Aileen gave interviews right up to her execution, and in the last ones she sounds very different from the woman at trial. If the “never-before-seen” footage is from that period, it will be unsettling.
- How much weight it gives her childhood. This is where documentaries about her either earn trust or lose it.
- Whether it talks to the victims’ families. Seven men died. The best true crime remembers that.
Our honest expectation
Netflix true crime can go either way: thoughtful (like The Witness) or just stylish. The title Queen of the Serial Killers makes me a little nervous, because it sounds like a crown rather than a case. But rare footage is rare footage, so yes, I’ll be watching on release night.
I’ll update this post with a proper review once I’ve seen it. Are you watching this weekend, or has true crime about killers started to feel like too much? Let me know below.
Leave a Reply