Netflix's 'When They See Us' Is The True-Crime Drama You Need To Watch

Oh, we do love a good crime drama. But, quite sadistically, there's something all the more satisfying when we know it's based on a true crime.

Well, Netflix heard us and delivered with its new show When They See Us, based on one of the most high-profile crimes in the last few decades.

The show is based on the true story of the five teenagers, Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana and Korey Wise, dubbed as the Central Park Five, who were convicted of a rape they didn't commit.

It was spring of 1989 when the teens were first questioned about the assault, and the series will cover the 25-year period from then until they were exonerated in 2002 and reached a settlement in 2014.

The four-part series will be available to stream from 31st May, which coincides with the 30th anniversary since the incident took place.

Netflix

When They See Us stars The Wire's Michael K Williams, Vera Farmiga from The Conjuring, Desperate Housewives' Felicity Huffman, John Leguizama (Carlito's Way), Niecy Nash from Scream Queens,L.A Law's Blair Underwood, Christopher Jackson (Bull), Dawson's Creek's Joshua Jackson, Omar Dorsey (Django Unchained), AdeperoOduye from 12 Years A Slave, and Taken's Famke Janssen.

The drama is directed and co-written by Selma, 13th's Ava DuVernay and is co-produced by Robert DeNiro and Oprah Winfrey, so we're expecting some pretty big things.

Meanwhile, Netflix has released the first trailer of its new horror film The Perfection, and it hints at all the suspense of Get Out mixed with the psychological twists and turns of Black Swan.

The film, starring Girls star Allison Williams and Logan Browning of Dear White People, follows a troubled musical prodigy (Williams) who seeks out the new star pupil of her school (Browning) with sinister consequences.

It was was directed by Richard Shepard, who won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for Ugly Betty. The screenplay was written by Shepard alongside Eric C. Charmelo and Nicole Snyder.

The Perfection lands on Netflix on 24th May.

Topics: True Crime, TV News, TV Entertainment, Netflix

Emma Rosemurgey

Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Junior Journalist at Tyla. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining the team in 2017. Contact her on [email protected]

@emmarosemurgey