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A Toxic Love Story

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A Toxic Love Story

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Summary

Alexandra Lacey directs a feature-length documentary about a true-life case of deception and lies in a glamorous suburb of California. A newlywed wife receives a series of threatening emails from a sender with the profile name Lilithistruth and the husband's former partner is the prime suspect. She is arrested but a supposedly clear-cut case of jealousy and revenge reveals alarming evidence that blurs perceptions of victim and villain

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Review

A star rating of 3 out of 5.

Calum Baker

Alexandra Lacey's Netflix-produced true crime documentary follows three people in Anaheim, California who in 2016 were involved in a knotty case of stalking, harassment and some truly audacious lies. It's a cleverly structured bit of reporting as Lacey peels back the layers and jumps around in time, giving twists aplenty and eventually getting to a more or less satisfying conclusion. Given the run time, obvious absence of some participants and Lacey's sometimes by-numbers film-making, you'll spot the narrative turns coming from a mile off. However, the material is marshalled engagingly enough, with interesting interviewees and slickly cut uses of police footage and re-created scenes. The film's main problem is that it remains mostly shallow, failing to more deeply explore the psychology and motivations of the perpetrators, as well as the fascinating convenience of such similarly extreme manipulators having met in the first place. Perhaps the whole scheme really was just about something as mundane as condo ownership; but that in itself is interesting and, under Lacey's direction, remains beyond the scope of the film. Still, plenty to chew on for the true-crime fan, with a strange-but-true tale tailormade for discussion around the office watercooler.

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6.6/10

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Credits

Cast

rolenameMichelle HadleyMichelle HadleyIan DiazIan DiazAngela DiazAngela Diaz

Crew

rolenameDirectorAlexandra Lacey

Details

Released on

2026-07-23

Languages

English

Guidance

Swearing, sexual references

Formats

Colour

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