Chilling, questioning, and unsettling are words that describe Netflix’s top documentary, “The Unknown Number: The High School Catfish.” This documentary depicts the suspicious and anonymous messages that were sent to a high school couple, Lauryn Licari and Owen McKenny, for two years.
Being a huge fan of documentaries, I instantly knew this one was going to be different than anything I have seen before. Why? As I continued to watch, I was eager to find out who was sending the unknown messages.
Licari and McKenny were only thirteen years old when they received the first message from an unknown number. They would receive a couple of messages a day, which eventually led to fifty a day.
While trying to figure out the sender of these suspicious messages, I assumed it had to be someone who wanted Licari and McKenny to break up.
“Hi Lauryn, Owen is breaking up with you,” one of the messages read.
The messages quickly grew personal, showing that the sender of these messages knew a lot about Licari and McKenny’s lives. At first, the couple thought it was a friend messing with them, but after a while, the messages began to get darker and include personal threats.
As the messages continued, they started to affect their daily lives. Licari and McKenny were filled with anxiety and confusion.
This documentary showed how difficult and traumatic this situation was for the couple. Seeing through a screen how this was impacting them made me feel physically scared.
I had so many thoughts going through my mind while watching this, such as how I would react if this were happening to me. Each message revealed in the documentary kept me on the edge of my seat.
The more I got into the episode, the worse the messages got. They started to feel like someone was always watching the couple.
The whole time watching the documentary, all I wanted to know was who was sending the messages. Hearing everyone’s story, my opinion kept changing on who I thought was sending them.
The directors did a good job making the whole documentary feel suspenseful. Even though they gave lots of information about the situation, it still left me with unanswered questions.
Everyone involved was interviewed to share their personal experience with Licari and McKenny. This made the documentary feel super emotional and personal.
Licari and McKenny were not able to trust anyone. This made me feel scared for them, but forced me to keep watching so I could find out the person behind all of this.
At the end, when they revealed who was sending these disgusting, unsettling messages, I was in total shock. Not one part of me thought the person behind this was guilty of such a harassing act.
I felt a series of emotions once I finished the episode, such as frustration and disbelief. Since I have watched it, this story has not left my mind.
After watching this, you will find yourself like I did, wanting to know more. Not all answers were given, which left you curious.
If you enjoy thrilling, intense documentaries, I highly recommend you take the time to watch this. “The Unknown Number: The High School Catfish” shows the dangers of the online world and the worst situations that can happen to anyone.