Murder Among the Mormons

There’s a peculiar mix of gullibility and paranoia underlying much of “Murder Among the Mormons,” which is a combination detective story, crime thriller and artistic triumph of nonfiction cinema.

Directors Jared Hess and Tyler Measom do a superb job of telling this incredible true story via a treasure trove of archival news footage, audio tapes and home videos; the occasional re-creation of events, and interviews with a host of historians, researchers, investigators, news reporters and other key figures.

Gripping, in-depth and respectful of the long-felt consequences of Hofmann’s crimes, Murder Among the Mormons is how you make a true crime documentary.

Even at a relatively brief three episodes, Murder Among the Mormons feels a tad padded, especially as it makes its way through its final installment. The series’ closing passages, however, are worth the wait, painting a chilling portrait of a man who—out of a lust for attention and wealth, and a desire to demolish the Mormon religion—treated history, relationships and people’s lives as pawns in his own deadly game.

Hess and Measom don’t editorialize or otherwise insert themselves into the production, beyond posing a question that shakes one of the more ostentatious interviewees late in the series. Aside from one giddily quirky mid-series sequence, they also don’t bring much character to the format, which is surprising, given the directors’ previous work.

Murder Among The Mormons is a fascinating look at some of the inner workings of the Mormon Church, even if the filmmakers were more interested in the story around the document trade than the church itself.

Murder Among the Mormons, Netflix’s latest true crime docuseries, feels weirdly bloated and malnourished all at once.

A three-part series that is yet again a case of a solid movie, or maybe even a TV special, that has been pulled to three hours to meet a Netflix requirement. And what’s even more disappointing is that the extended runtime only leads to repetition instead of the intriguing questions this true story inspired and then leaves unasked about religion and blind faith.