''I'll Be Gone in the Dark'' is an American

true crime True crime is a nonfiction literary, podcast, and film genre in which the author examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people associated with and affected by criminal events. The crimes most commonly include murder; about 40 pe ...

documentary television series directed by

Liz Garbus Elizabeth Freya Garbus (born April 11, 1970) is an American documentary film director and producer. Notable documentaries Garbus has made are '' The Farm: Angola, USA,'' ''Ghosts of Abu Ghraib,'' ''Bobby Fischer Against the World,'' ''Love, Maril ...

, Elizabeth Wolff, Myles Kane and Josh Koury, revolving around Michelle McNamara as she writes a book about and investigates the

Golden State Killer Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. (born November 8, 1945) is an American serial killer, sex offender, burglar, and former police officer who committed at least 13 murders, 51 rapes, and 120 burglaries across California between 1974 a ...

. The original six-part series premiered on June 28, 2020, on HBO, and concluded on August 2, 2020. A special episode premiered on June 21, 2021.

Premise

Michelle McNamara lived a quiet life, but as her family slept, she spent the night investigating and writing a book about the

, delving into the world of online chat rooms and crime blogs. She hid her addiction to opioids which ultimately contributed to her death prior to the completion of her book.

Episodes

Production

In April 2018,

HBO Documentary Films Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television, premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office busi ...

acquired rights to '' I'll Be Gone in the Dark'' by Michelle McNamara, with plans to adapt the book into a docuseries, with her husband

Patton Oswalt Patton Peter Oswalt (born January 27, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer. He is known as Spence Olchin in the sitcom ''The King of Queens'' (1998–2007) and for narrating the sitcom '' The Goldbergs'' (2013–present) as ...

serving as an executive producer. Production on the series began on April 24, 2018. In May 2018, it was announced

would direct the series. McNamara's researcher Paul Haynes and crime journalist Billy Jensen, both of whom helped Oswalt finish the book, were signed on as co-executive producers. The series features interviews with detectives, survivors, family members, and

Amy Ryan Amy Beth Dziewiontkowski, known professionally as Amy Ryan, is an American actress of stage and screen. A graduate of New York's High School of Performing Arts, she is an Academy Award nominee and two-time Tony Award nominee. Ryan began her pr ...

narrating excerpts from McNamara's book.

Reception

Critical response

Review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reported an approval rating of 96% based on 48 reviews, with an average rating of 8.37/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Director Liz Garbus smartly centers ''I'll Be Gone in the Dark'' around the late Michelle McNamara's passionate efforts, weaving together a heavy, but important tapestry of trauma, obsession, and survival.

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

gave the series a weighted average score of 82 out of 100 based on 20 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".

Ratings

References

External links

* * {{HBONetwork Shows, state=collapsed 2020 American television series debuts 2021 American television series endings 2020s American documentary television series Documentary television series about crime in the United States English-language television shows HBO original programming Joseph James DeAngelo Television series by Home Box Office Television series about serial killers Television shows based on non-fiction books Television shows set in California Television shows set in Sacramento, California True crime television series