Thanks largely to streaming services like Netflix bombarding us with so much content covering virtually ever base, even the most demanding of true crime fanatics will find themselves regularly satiated by what the platform is putting out there. Thanks to the title, though, subscribers know exactly what to expect from Kai the Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker.
The documentary only dropped yesterday, but it hasn’t wasted any time in instantly cleaving through the competition to become one of the most popular titles on the library. Per FlixPatrol, the self-explanatory exploration of what led a viral sensation to end up being sentenced to 57 years in prison has become a Top 10 hit in 34 countries, good enough to see it debut as the fourth top-viewed title globally.
In 2013, Caleb Lawrence McGillvary became an online phenomenon who received nationwide attention after revealing the harrowing story of how he attacked someone who’d picked him up and given him a ride with a machete to defend a pedestrian injured in an auto accident. Three months later, he was being charged with homicide following the murder of attorney Joseph Galfy.
Citing his online fame and the fall-out from the initial video while defending himself in court, McGillvary’s pleas ultimately fell on deaf ears. It’s a story every bit as fascinating as it shocking, and Kai the Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker has added yet another notch onto Netflix’s belt of true crime documentaries dealing with murder, mayhem, and internet conspiracy theories to have been welcomed with open arms.
