Netflix Users Are Warning Each Other About A 'Sickening' New Documentary
Usually, when you hear about a Netflix release topping the charts it's either yet another example of how Netflix viewers will watch anything or the surprising resurgence of a long-forgotten film. But sometimes, the streamer serves up a true crime documentary so salacious we can't help but binge away until we've imbibed the entire harrowing narrative in one. Such was the case recently with "Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal," which had viewers around the world tuning in.
Since it gave up on the movie-by-mail model and became a streaming service, Netflix has consistently provided us with a stream of true crime documentaries that delve into all manner of sordid affairs. From "Making a Murderer" to "The Staircase," other people's trauma has proven a reliably popular genre for Netflix, which has capitalized as much as anyone on our ongoing love affair with true crime.
Now, a new exploration of humanity's dark side has proven Netflix is very much capable of still shocking us all with its documentaries. "Hell Camp: Teen Nightmare" chronicles the experiences of a group of kids sent to a wilderness therapy camp, which was basically just an abuse and torture operation disguised as a way of "setting troubled teens straight." While the streamer's latest documentary hasn't yet become a cultural phenomenon on the level of some of its prior efforts, judging by audience reactions it could still catch up to the likes of "Making a Murderer" and "Murdaugh Murders."
Viewers are warning others about Hell Camp
"Hell Camp: Teen Nightmare" explores the story of The Challenger Foundation, a two-month wilderness therapy camp that was supposed to course-correct at-risk teens. Back in the '80s, the program took teens away from their parents, often by way of staged kidnappings, and dumped them in the wilderness to endure months of so-called discipline that was supposed to curb the troubled teens' bad behavior. Overseen by former military special forces officer Steve Cartisano, The Challenger Foundation forced its "attendees," if you can call them that, to hike hundreds of miles across the Utah desert and punish them in humiliating ways if they complained. Aside from suffering numerous indignities, one teenager tragically died while at the camp.
Unsurprisingly then, people are finding "Hell Camp" a little too much to take, with viewers warning others of the harrowing events recounted in Netflix's new doc. The Daily Mail has rounded up a few quotes from X/Twitter users shocked by the whole affair, with one quoted as writing, "Highly recommend to everyone to NEVER watch 'Hell Camp: Teen Nightmare.' This is disgusting on too many levels." Meanwhile UniLad quotes one social media poster as declaring "Hell Camp" to be "the most f****d up documentary I have ever watched."
Elsewhere, the reactions continue to come in, with X/Twitter user @michellefowlers registering her disgust with the doc thusly: "Hell camp on Netflix is making me feel sick the amount of abuse those kids went through omg how was this allowed." Further comments confirm others are similarly disgusted by the events in "Hell Camp," with some warning others about the "sickening" documentary.
What's it all for?
Thus far, "Hell Camp" hasn't hit the Netflix Top 10, but a quick look at FlixPatrol shows it slowly gaining steam in several countries. Once the word is out about its controversial subject matter, it will surely move up the charts, which seems at once troubling and necessary. The story obviously needs to be told and seen by as many people as possible. But there has also been criticism of the documentary for taking a sensationalist approach to a very serious topic that remains as pertinent today as it did when Steve Cartisano was running his horror show back in the ”80s.
As The Guardian reported back in 2022, wilderness therapy camps are still very much a thing, and the controversy surrounding them remains. While "Hell Camp" might not be one of the best true crime documentaries ever made, if nothing else, hopefully, Netflix's latest will spur more discussion about what looks to be a very relevant and important contemporary issue.