Netflix's 'Don't F**k with Cats' is true crime terror with a vigilante twist

The following contains mild spoilers for Netflix's Don't F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer.

There’s scary stuff on the internet.

For every cute gif, a horrifying image; for every funny status, a threat of violence. In Netflix’s Don’t F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer, documentarians examine the disturbing case of Luka Magnotta — a convicted murderer who displayed warning signs of violence online months before killing an undergraduate student at Concordia University in Montreal.

Unlike other true crime docs, the main narrators in Don’t F**k with Cats aren’t police officials, but internet vigilantes.

In 2010, Magnotta, using an alias, began posting gruesome videos online. Each depicted the brutal murder of kittens: setting one of the animals on fire, feeding another to a Burmese Python, and suffocating two using a vacuum. (Nothing graphic is shown in the series, but the events are described by interview subjects.)

The story is shaped by the accounts of John Green and Deanna Thompson, the amateur web sleuths/cat lovers who were determined to track Magnotta down and have him charged for animal cruelty. By examining details in the videos, Green, Thompson, and their fellow “investigators” led police to Magnotta’s location — but not before his behavior escalated, and he videotaped the murder of 33-year-old Jun Lin, posting the video of that as well.

Despite its name, Don’t F**k with Cats doesn’t spend too much time on Magnotta’s lesser crimes. Split into three parts, the series uses its second and third episodes to focus primarily on the murder of Lin and the roles these vigilantes played in bringing his killer to authorities.

But as Green and Thompson are quick to point out, it's slippery business presenting Magnotta's crimes on a platform as massive as Netflix.

Magnotta’s characteristic narcissism and desire for fame, explored extensively in the series, indicate he was always seeking widespread attention — and the series’ decision to allow Magnotta’s mother, Anna Yourkin, a platform from which to defend her son is a bit baffling.

In one scene, Yourkin describes her hatred for the amateur sleuths who aided in the capture of Magnotta, describing them as "a disgrace" and "acting like stalkers." In another, she shows interviewers a pair of custom-made slippers her son bought for her, praising his taste and kindness.

During the final episode, she details Magnotta's claim that he was forced to torture animals by a dangerous person from the dark web named “Manny.”

Her account is supported in part by Magnotta’s defense attorney and a forensic psychiatrist who argued Magnotta could not be criminally responsible for his actions. It is later made clear that there is no substantial evidence to support the idea that Magnotta was coerced, but the narrative’s inclusion in the doc is ethically dubious at best.

That said, it does provide a more complete picture of the bizarre case and the killer at its center. Don't F**k with Cats struggles to convey a cohesive message, painting an inconsistent portrait of its central vigilantes and Magnotta.

Still, it's a fascinating watch that provides a detailed look at one of the stranger murder cases of the past decade — examining the risks that come with taking justice into your hands, and how our online lives are changing what it means to hunt a killer.

How to watch: Don't F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer is now streaming on Netflix.