Television series
Appropriate Adult
- Serial killer
- Drama
- Very dark
A meticulous dramatisation of the Fred and Rose West investigation, told primarily through the perspective of Janet Leach, the appropriate adult who accompanied Fred during police questioning. It's procedural and intimate at once—methodical detective work interwoven with the moral weight of proximity to evil. For those who want true crime without sensationalism.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you are drawn to slow, character-led true-crime drama where the power lies in quiet interview rooms and what people will not say, rather than in graphic detail.
Skip it if you want the Wests themselves at the centre, since the drama keeps them at a distance and its focus is the investigation, which can feel airless.
What it asks of you: Two parts with a patient, low-lit pace; scenes linger in cramped rooms and silences, and the material is bleak enough that you need to be ready for it.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
MINDHUNTER2017
Early FBI profilers pioneer psychological interviewing techniques to catch serial killers. Fascinatingly cerebral, with the same conviction that understanding how monsters think is the key to catching them.
But Slow-burn procedural that prioritises method over drama. Some episodes feel more like case-file study than narrative television.
The Fall2013
Obsessive detective pursues an intelligent serial killer through Belfast. Genuinely suspenseful, with Stella Gibson as one of TV's finest female leads—sharp, weary, unstoppable.
But Stella's relentless competence can feel invulnerable. The killer's perspective sometimes leans toward aesthetic fascination rather than repulsion.
Broadchurch2013
A child's murder tears a small Cornish village apart. Gripping mystery with two exceptional leads and genuine ambiguity about who you can trust, including yourself.
But The second season received mixed reviews. Resolution can feel less satisfying than the hunt itself.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Appropriate Adult
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
The Trial of the Chicago 72020
Both examine how the state prosecutes, and what happens to truth when authority has already decided the narrative. The detective's competence in Appropriate Adult means nothing if the system won't listen.
Courtroom drama about the 1969 trial following Democratic Convention riots. Not about catching criminals but about the justice system as a stage where power performs. Sorkin at his most passionate, about institutions under pressure.
But Courtroom speeches can overshadow character nuance. The righteousness, while earned, occasionally tips into sermon.
More like this (8)
In Cold Blood1967
The original true-crime procedural. Capote's adaptation of the Kansas murders feels documentary-like decades before that became standard—methodical, compassionate toward peripheral characters.
But Deliberately paced in ways modern audiences find slow. Black and white and sparse, which suits the mood but demands patience.
Spotlight2015
Boston journalists methodically uncover decades of institutional abuse. Ensemble cast doing unglamorous work with precision and integrity. About how truth emerges from groundwork.
But Dialogue-heavy and subtle in a way that can feel undramatic. You're watching people read documents and make phone calls for two hours.
The Wolf of Wall Street2013
Scorsese's portrait of serial moral corruption. The inverse angle: not catching a killer but watching a different species of predator thrive. DiCaprio's manic energy is intoxicating and appalling.
But Three hours of excess that sometimes feels like celebration rather than critique. The distinction between satire and endorsement gets fuzzy.
Prime Suspect1991
Helen Mirren as an ice-sharp detective solving murders while her own colleagues undermine her. Pioneered the forensic procedural form; still feels modern, still furious.
But Dated production values. Some 90s gender politics angles land awkwardly now, though the show itself is conscious of them.
Nightcrawler2014
Jake Gyllenhaal as a freelance cameraman filming LA's crimes for profit. Deranged, hypnotic, about predatory ambition and how we commodify suffering.
But Deliberately repellent protagonist with no redemption arc. The film admires his drive more than it should, and that's part of the point but a difficult point to live with.
Happy Valley2014
Sarah Lancashire as a Yorkshire police sergeant haunted by her daughter's rape and murder, now facing the man's release. Raw emotional core beneath procedural excellence. Absolutely gripping.
But The weight of accumulated trauma can feel punishing rather than cathartic. Very bleak even by crime-drama standards.
Killer: A Journal of Murder1996
The appropriate adult's dilemma made into a whole film: what do you do when you're forced to engage humanely with someone inhuman? Both ask whether understanding requires sympathy.
James Woods as a death-row killer, Lee Ermey as the guard who documents him. Conversation-based, philosophical, uninterested in sensationalism. Two men trying to understand evil through proximity.
But Virtually no plot or action. Essentially a filmed philosophical argument. Released in almost no theatres and disappeared.
In My Skin2002
Different genre entirely, but the same fascination with the psychology of damage: how do you represent the interior destruction that produces monstrosity? The Wests' childhood is footnoted; this film is what that damage looks like from inside.
French horror about a woman's compulsive self-harm. Unflinching portrait of psychological damage presented as visceral body horror. Beautifully shot and genuinely devastating in ways crime drama never attempts.
But Extremely graphic self-injury throughout. Not a crime story—more intimate and more disturbing for it. Will absolutely wreck you.
