On the lookout for a gorge-worthy Netflix true-crime hit that does not require a multi-episode dedication? A documentary that may depart you pondering for days?

The Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker, Netflix’s unofficial nominee for “Present Whose Title Sounds Most Like a Weekly World Information Headline,” is a 90-minute documentary movie. It is not a kind of lengthy, multiple-episode sequence, like Dahmer. Buckle up, as a result of it is a sophisticated, fascinating story that’ll preserve you riveted for its cheap runtime.

Again in 2013, a man named Jett McBride deliberately ran his automobile right into a California utility employee, then received out of his automobile and attacked each the injured man and bystanders who tried to assist. However that crime is not the main focus of this story. As issues received loopy, a hitchhiker in McBride’s automobile jumped out and raced to the rescue, defending the others by attacking McBride with a hatchet.

The hitchhiker, a Canadian whose identify is Caleb Lawrence McGillvary however glided by Kai, gave a TV interview to reporter Jessob Reisbeck. The interview went viral, partly as a result of the wide-eyed, chatty, probably stoned Kai, a Pauly Shore look-alike, reenacted the hatchet blows whereas hollering, “Smash, smash, suh-MASH!”

After which … nicely, know the web slang time period “milkshake duck“? Invented by Australian cartoonist Ben Ward, who goes by pixelatedboat on Twitter, it describes a typical situation by which the web falls in love with somebody who appears completely charming, on this case, a duck who drinks milkshakes. However simply 5 seconds later, the duck is found to be racist, and it falls from grace. (Keep in mind Ken Bone, made well-known after asking a query throughout a 2016 town-hall-style presidential debate? He was an early instance.)

Kai basked in web fame for a bit longer than 5 seconds. His interview received edited and rereleased to tens of millions of views. He appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Reside, and there was discuss of giving him his personal actuality present, a la the Kardashians. Stephen Colbert joked on his present, “For the primary time in human historical past, persons are saying, ‘Boy, we certain are fortunate that homeless hitchhiker was carrying a hatchet.'”

The Netflix present interviews Hollywood producers and journalists who appear fully dazzled by Kai’s story — or the story they need so badly for it to be. They see him as Probability, the naive gardener from the film and novel Being There, whose very simplicity convinces folks his nonetheless waters run deep.  They actually know nothing about Kai — the place he got here from, how he’ll react to something — however they’re able to crown him the subsequent sizzling star. It is unnerving how rapidly they rush to mildew a hapless hitchhiker with troubling and obviously apparent psychological well being points into the subsequent massive factor.

However Kai quickly reveals he is not precisely what Hollywood anticipated. You marvel why these big-salaried talent-spotters ever thought an unhoused man who carried a hatchet was going to have the ability to easily flip into Brad Pitt. They can not seem to stroll Kai right into a resort foyer with out him peeing on a desk. 

Then, simply months after the preliminary incident that made him well-known, Kai is arrested — for homicide. The Netflix documentary would not actually do a terrific job of explaining the crime, all however glossing over the poor sufferer. It is obvious it is a milkshake duck story, not a walk-you-through-the-courtroom-details true-crime story. We’re not right here to get trial transcripts, however to find out about how rapidly a viral video can carry a stranger fame and all types of financial alternatives, after which actuality can carry them all the way down to earth with one large suh-MASH. 

The Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker has its flaws, for certain. There are claims Kai was abused as a baby, however his mom offers an interview the place she tells a special story that is not likely addressed. There are recommendations Kai triggered the unique assault by giving Jett McBride medicine earlier than the intentional automobile crash. Most of all, the homicide Kai commits is so sketchily defined I am nonetheless considerably confused about it, and needed to flip to different on-line information sources for particulars. 

However as soon as the present begins working, it is inconceivable to show it off. It is fascinating to observe folks confess they fell for a viral video star who grew to become well-known purely by probability, and whose fall from grace was rapid and horrific. And at a time when streaming companies appear to be cranking out increasingly more multi-episode sequence (see Netflix’s Dahmer), this fast-paced present is simply an hour and 25 minutes lengthy. When it is over, you will not know the minute particulars of Kai’s life and crime, however you can be left with some thought-provoking questions on viral fame and its penalties.