Don’t F**k With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer is a 2019 true crime docuseries about an online manhunt. It is directed by Mark Lewis and was released on Netflix on December 18, 2019. The series chronicles events following a crowd-sourced amateur investigation into a series of animal cruelty acts committed by Canadian Luka Magnotta, culminating in his murder of Chinese international student Jun Lin. It was one of Netflix’s Top 5 most-watched documentaries of 2019.
Premise
The three-part docuseries follows a group of amateur internet sleuths who launched a manhunt for Luka Magnotta after he gained international notoriety in 2010 for sharing a graphic video online of himself killing two kittens. Magnotta was later convicted for murdering Chinese international student Jun Lin in grisly circumstances in 2012.
Early investigation
The series started with Deanna Thompson, a data analyst for a casino in Las Vegas, and John Green, from Los Angeles. In 2010, a viral video called 1 boy 2 kittens was posted on Facebook. The viral video shows a man playing with two kittens before he puts them in a very tight vacuum seal bag and vacuums out the air, suffocating the kittens. Thompson and Green subsequently started a Facebookgroup to build evidence and find the perpetrator. The group worked together to examine the details of the video, including the objects in the room, to help solve the mystery.
Cast
| Cast | Role | Episodes |
|---|---|---|
| John Green | Himself | 3 episodes |
| Deanna Thompson | Herself—aka “Baudi Moovan” | 3 episodes |
| Det. Sgt. Claudette Hamlin | Herself—Montreal Police, Homicide | 2 episodes |
| Antonio Paradiso | Himself—Montreal Police, Homicide | 2 episodes |
| Anna Yourkin | Herself—Luka Magnotta’s Mother | 2 episodes |
| Benjamin Xu | Himself—Jun Lin’s Best Friend | 2 episodes |
| Marc Lilge | Himself—Berlin Police | 2 episodes |
| Mike Nadeau | Himself—Janitor | 1 episode |
| Joe Panz | Himself—Rescue Ink | 1 episode |
| Joe Warmington | Himself—Journalist, Toronto Sun | 1 episode |
| Henri | Himself—Undercover Detective Fugitive Task Force | 1 episode |
| Romeo Salta | Himself—Attorney | 1 episode |
| Kadir Anlayisli | Himself—Internet Cafe Employee | 1 episode |
| Joel Watts | Himself—Defense Psychiatrist | 1 episode |
Episodes
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Cat and Mouse” | Mark Lewis | Mark Lewis | December 18, 2019 |
| 2 | “Killing for Clicks” | Mark Lewis | Mark Lewis | December 18, 2019 |
| 3 | “Closing the Net” | Mark Lewis | Mark Lewis | December 18, 2019 |
Reception
Two weeks after its debut, the docuseries became one of Netflix’s Top 5 most-watched documentaries of 2019. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the series has a 67% approval rating, based on 12 reviews, with an average rating of 8/10. The website’s consensus reads, “Don’t F**k With Cats offers an intriguing tale, but questionable intent and muddled storytelling make it a hard sell for anyone but true crime completists.”
Accolades
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | British Academy Television Awards | Best Factual Series or Strand | Mark Lewis, Felicity Morris, Michael Harte and Dimitri Doganis | Nominated | |
| British Academy Television Craft Awards | Best Director: Factual | Mark Lewis | Nominated | ||
| Best Editing: Factual | Michael Harte | Won | |||
| Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Program | Mark Lewis (for “Closing the Net”) | Won |