The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst

:

Season 1
  • Network: HBO
  • Series Premiere Date: Feb 8, 2015
Season #: 2, 1
User Score
8.2

Universal acclaim- based on 48 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 42 out of 48
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 48
  3. Negative: 3 out of 48
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User Reviews

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  1. Monkeywing
    Mar 1, 2015
    10
    I am absolutely addicted to this show. I have never seen anything like it. Having seen All Good Things years before I was curious how this could possibly be a series. Once I saw the first episode I was even more curious, since it seemed they told us the whole story in the first episode. Every episode takes us further and further down a rabbit hole. This is a wild ride and I can't waitI am absolutely addicted to this show. I have never seen anything like it. Having seen All Good Things years before I was curious how this could possibly be a series. Once I saw the first episode I was even more curious, since it seemed they told us the whole story in the first episode. Every episode takes us further and further down a rabbit hole. This is a wild ride and I can't wait to watch the next episode.

    My biggest frustration with this show is that no one I know is watching it. I am begging everyone to watch it, but either they don't have HBO or "don't like true crime." Watch this show! It is fantastic!    … Expand
  2. OpinionatedGuy
    Apr 21, 2015
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I never really paid attention about this documentary series until a day before its finale aired when the subject of this docu-series Robert Durst was arrested on first degree murder charges. As more people talked about Robert Durst and the docu-series, I decided to check it out with little knowledge or little interest about Robert Durst. I predicted it's just about an old white dude who got out of an open and shut case because he is rich. That is a bad oversimplification about the documentary series because while it is essentially correct, there is more to the story and it's not only one open and shut case but three open and shut cases! That explains why it needed six episodes to tell the story about the life and deaths of Robert Durst.

    What I loved about The Jinx is that it uses the information the filmmakers have about Robert Durst to tell a very serialized, compelling story. I do agree that it manipulated its viewers with the way it narrated the facts but that's the simplest yet clever way to tell the viewers and it doesn't change much about the truth about Durst and his involvement in three murder cases.

    The Jinx has the best cinematography I have seen in a documentary. It actually enhances the viewing experience for me. I also liked how the re-enactment scenes is naturally cooperated to the docu-series.

    My only problem I had with this docu-series is the crucial evidence they had on Robert Durst that was featured in the end of the docu-series in which in an audio file reveals that Robert Durst confessed that he "killed them all" in a bathroom by himself with a microphone that he forgot to give it to the filmmakers after his second interview. The docu-series was recorded on 2013 and the filmmakers had this evidence for a long time and it took them long to give the evidence to the police. I can't really believe the filmmakers' claim that they just only found it during post-production. It just seems a bit of a dick move made by them just to give more hype and suspense for the docu-series. At least Robert Durst is in big trouble now and the whole world knows it. Better late than never I guess.

    Despite that problem and its manipulative use of its narrative, The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst is an excellent docu-series that tells the story about the life and deaths of Robert Durst in a serialized, compelling way.    … Expand
  3. BogKid
    Feb 9, 2015
    6
    I have seen only the first episode so this must be considered a very preliminary review. I remember Robert Durst when he was in the news, especially at the time of the sandwich theft incident. I had to see this documentary. So far, I am a bit disappointed since the opening show did very little to explain Durst's motivations, essentially how he got to be the Robert Durst we see here. II have seen only the first episode so this must be considered a very preliminary review. I remember Robert Durst when he was in the news, especially at the time of the sandwich theft incident. I had to see this documentary. So far, I am a bit disappointed since the opening show did very little to explain Durst's motivations, essentially how he got to be the Robert Durst we see here. I assume this will improve as the series moves onward but I felt that the initial episode did little to hook me into this story. I came to it already hooked, so I will certainly watch the balance of the series.… Expand
  4. EPMD
    Dec 11, 2016
    4
    This felt about 3 or 4 times as long as it should have been. The backing music was often irritating, especially the tinkling "mystery" music. The case was presented to viewers in a confusing manner. It felt like they were going for an artisitc/dramatic effect rather than just presenting a case in a straightforward manner and letting the story be the feature attraction. I am fascinated byThis felt about 3 or 4 times as long as it should have been. The backing music was often irritating, especially the tinkling "mystery" music. The case was presented to viewers in a confusing manner. It felt like they were going for an artisitc/dramatic effect rather than just presenting a case in a straightforward manner and letting the story be the feature attraction. I am fascinated by cases such as this one, but the style of this series really disappointed me.… Expand
  5. geewah
    Feb 2, 2021
    10
    Compelling, chilling, weird.
    This is one of the more bizarre murder mystery doco's you will see, and it will have you hooked.
    The best docu-series of 2015.

Awards & Rankings

56
#56 Best TV Season of 2015

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 21 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 21
  3. Negative: 0 out of 21
  1. The New Yorker
    Reviewed by: Emily Nussbaum
    Mar 26, 2015
    80
    The Jinx is wickedly entertaining: funny, morbid, and sad, at once exploitative and high-minded, a moral lasagna of questionable aesthetic choices (including reconstructions of ghastly events) and riveting interviews (of Durst, but also of other eccentrics, like his chain-smoking-hot second wife).
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  2. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Melissa Maerz
    Feb 12, 2015
    91
    The Jinx might make amateur sleuths of us all. But judging by this gripping, stranger-than-fiction detective story, Jarecki’s the real thing.
    Read full review
  3. Salon
    Reviewed by: Sonia Saraiya
    Feb 10, 2015
    80
    The Jinx can be a tad too self-referential at times, and unlike the hot-blooded thrill of the podcast “Serial,” this is a story whose particulars can all be found—albeit presented far less well—on Wikipedia. But it’s absorbing, due to the exhaustive research underpinning it and the hook of Durst’s actual, shiftless presence.
    Read full review
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