The November 2022 homicide of 4 College of Idaho college students – Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin – was one of many largest true crime tales of the previous decade and one which has spawned numerous documentaries. Once I first discovered that Prime Video’s One Night time in Idaho: The Faculty Murders was coming to the 2025 TV schedule, I truthfully thought it was going to be a chilly, commonplace true crime docuseries in regards to the investigation.
Nevertheless, I might quickly uncover by watching with my Amazon subscription that as an alternative of being one other “by the numbers” documentary about Bryan Kohberger, who later pleaded responsible to first-degree homicide and housebreaking, and the crimes he dedicated, this emotional four-part collection was one thing extra. It was private, it was emotional, and along with giving us a greater image of the influence the crimes had on the family and friends of the victims, it was a tribute to the lives of these 4 faculty college students and what they left behind.
Whereas The Docuseries Does not Function The Investigators, It Does Emphasize the Affect The Crimes Had On The Mates And Household
There’s a disclaimer initially of every episode of One Night time in Idaho: The Faculty Murders stating that on account of a gag order, nobody concerned within the case in an official capability was allowed to talk about the heinous homicide and subsequent investigation. So, as an alternative of the listening to detectives explaining how they found the crime scene or finally related the dots to Bryan Kohberger, the docuseries emphasizes the influence the crimes had on the victims’ family and friends.
Off the bat, this creates one thing that’s much more private, mild, and uncooked, as these pals, relations, and group members recount not simply the ultimate night time of the victims’ lives, however but additionally how they’ve coped with it within the years which have adopted.
The Docuseries Additionally Treats The 4 College students As Extra Than Simply Victims Of A Heinous Crime
Much like the large 2020 documentary collection, I am going to Be Gone within the Darkish, which was additionally directed by acclaimed documentarian Liz Garbus (she shares a credit score with Matthew Galkin), One Night time in Idaho: The Faculty Murders treats Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin as extra than simply victims of a heinous crime. As an alternative of getting their tales be solely about their ultimate days, the four-part docuseries inform us a bit about every of their lives.
By focusing much less on the crime (which continues to be a significant half, by the best way) or the perpetrator, Garbus and Galkin create a tribute to these lives misplaced that November 2022 night time and assist the viewer higher perceive what was actually misplaced right here.
I am Going To Be Sincere, This True Crime Present Broke Me A number of Instances
There have been so many heartbreaking moments all through the docuseries, however two specifically impacted me in a approach that I don’t suppose I’ll quickly neglect. Within the first episode, there’s an interview with Ethan Chapin’s mom, Stacy, the place she recounts a visit to the College of Idaho for folks’ weekend. After assembly Ethan’s girlfriend and fellow sufferer, Xana Kernodle, she mentioned she and her husband felt like they’d achieved proper as mother and father, not figuring out what would occur simply days later.
However that paled compared to a second close to the tip of the documentary the place Jim Chapin talks about his resolution to carry his son’s ashes residence after his memorial service. After experiencing one thing no mother or father desires to undergo, this father simply wished to maintain his son close by, and that broke my coronary heart into 1,000,000 items. As a mother or father, I simply can’t think about going via that.
Watching One Night time in Idaho: The Faculty Murders, an expertise I might say is much like the gut-wrenching Pricey Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father, created one of many saddest experiences on Amazon Prime, but additionally one which I believe is a humanizing and emotional exploration of lives reduce approach too quick.