Two can be a crowd when it comes to documentaries, and that proves true when analyzing the horrific 2022 University of Idaho killings.
On Thursday, July 3, Peacock released its feature-length documentary The Idaho Student Murders. Eight days later, on Friday, Amazon’s Prime Video released all four episodes of its documentary series One Night in Idaho: The College Murders. The two projects cover the same awful incident — in which Washington State University Ph.D in criminology candidate Bryan Kohberger brutally murdered Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin with a knife — but in pretty different ways. Notice I didn’t say in “disparate” ways, because I am definitely about to compare and contrast these docs.
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For starters, one is a 90-minute, continuous documentary film and the other is 172 minutes cut four ways — no one on either side of the competing projects can take issue with that observation.
But in noticeable ways, the Prime Video docuseries directed by Liz Garbus and Matthew Galkin is superior to Peacock’s doc, which was directed by Catharine Park. It is more entertaining (entertainment value feels like an awful way to judge true crime — but crime or not, it’s true) and has much deeper access to the victims’ friends and family members, who say much more interesting things about their deceased loved ones.
Whereas the main storytellers in Amazon’s docuseries are those closest to the victims, in the Peacock doc, author Howard Blum (When the Night Comes Falling: A Requiem for the Idaho Student Murders), a retired FBI special agent who worked on the case, and some unaffiliated attorneys carry the narrative. The Idaho Student Murders feels closer to the looming court case — it better tackles crime scene detail, Kohberger’s personal history, his alibi and even the procurement of the murder weapon. Whereas One Night in Idaho is closer to the people. In a crowded media ecosystem, it is the personal stories that break through — especially when the court case never happens.
At first blush, it would appear that Peacock’s first-mover advantage here is, well, an advantage. But I don’t think that’s true. The Peacock doc actually wasn’t even yet dated for release when Kohberger changed his plea to guilty; the streamer rushed the film out to meet the moment, a person with knowledge said. It was probably the right choice, but there was no avoiding the fact that the doc’s open-ended legalese was now obsolete.
The nature of The Idaho Student Murders allows more for the outside shot that Kohberger may be innocent of the heinous crimes — a plea of “Not Guilty” had originally been submitted on Kohberger’s behalf — but by the time of the Peacock release, we (very freshly) knew he definitively was not not guilty. Kohberger struck a surprise plea deal to avoid the death penalty, which just a few months ago was reverted back to the firing-squad technique by order of the Idaho governor.
None of that is the filmmaker’s fault, of course: Kohberger’s trial had been set to start one month after her doc was released, and Peacock, owned by NBCUniversal, which itself is owned by Comcast, is not in the business of getting sued over libelous content. But once Kohberger confessed — the evidence against him is overwhelming — it made Park’s attempts at impartiality obsolete. It also meant that Park had to scramble to get the latest update (and quotes from a few of the families) into a new end-title card. Garbus and Galkin had an extra week or so to tidy theirs up.
There are other numerous ways in which One Night in Idaho: The College Murders outshines The Idaho Student Murders. Like, for example, the lighting. Peacock’s documentary was produced in connection with a podcast, and while I don’t exactly know how to say this, that’s exactly what it looks like.
Even the format of One Night in Idaho (Amazon) makes for a more engrossing viewership experience, and a cliffhanger looming over the end of each episode encourages binge-viewing. The Idaho Student Murders (Peacock) does not lack for climactic moments — the story (and the need to edit into and out of ad breaks) guarantees that — but they just don’t hit the same.
To be fair, both the platforms and studios involved reflect the differing level of production. The lead production company on One Night in Idaho: The College Murders is Garbus’ prolific Story Syndicate, with the backing of Amazon MGM Studios and Skydance Television. It’s hard to find better financial support: Amazon is a top-four (worldwide) company by market cap, and Skydance is about to effectively buy Paramount Global. The Idaho Student Murders was produced by KT Studios and iHeartMedia — both primarily deal in the audio format. For what it’s worth, I bet it made for a hell of a podcast.
