20 Best Netflix 2017 Original Movies - Ranked

13. Casting JonBenet

Casting JonBenet
Netflix

A disturbing yet totally transfixing documentary about the still-cloudy circumstances surrounding the death of six-year-old JonBenét Ramsey back in 1996, Casting JonBenet takes the unique meta approach to its focal subjects that pays off splendidly.

The central conceit sees filmmaker Kitty Green auditioning local actors to play the various "characters" from the real-life tragedy, even JonBenet herself, while probing their own insights and beliefs about what happened to the young girl.

It sounds like a gimmick, and it basically is, but Green doesn't use it to exploit the child's death, but rather demonstrates a desperate desire to know more about what happened.

It's beautifully shot and the various participants offer beguiling perspectives, even if so much of the case still unavoidably remains up in the air.

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.