Crime Scene Berlin: Nightlife Killer Season Review – A decent true crime series that sticks to the facts

Episode Guide

Episode 1 – | Review Score – 4/5
Episode 2 – | Review Score – 3/5
Episode 3 – | Review Score – 3/5

Joe Berlinger produces Netflix’s latest true crime offering Crime Scene Berlin: Nightlife Killer in the form of a three-part documentary series that tells the story of a killer who stalks the gay nightlife scene in Berlin.

The docuseries is primarily told from the police’s point of view, but there are some revealing interviews with people close to the victims in the case, and also people with knowledge of the killer. The episodes are rather short at less than 40 minutes each, and it could’ve quite easily been turned into a one-off film. It’s very bingeable in one sitting. 

By no means is this up there with the best Netflix has to offer in the true crime genre, but it tells the story efficiently and possesses the usual visual style of Netflix crime documentaries: talking heads mixed with re-enactments, and an electronic inspired soundtrack. 

The killer is described as a man of average height and build and is shown as a mixture of a stand-in actor whose face we never see and a blurry image on CCTV footage. This adds to the sinister nature of the crimes that took place, but it would’ve been interesting to actually put a face to the crimes once it was revealed who the perpetrator was. The motive was also never revealed, and the victims’ families never fully got closure, despite the killer being brought to justice. 

There is a creepy Dexter-esque voiceover throughout the series, with the killer offering up some excuses for his crimes, based on his original statements given to police. The motive doesn’t appear to stem from a hatred of gay people, with the killer being gay himself, but there is some suggestion that the treatment he got from his mother might have had some impact on his future crimes. Overall, Crime Scene Berlin: Nightlife Killer is a decent series, but pales in comparison to some of the big hitters on the platform in recent years. 

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