Stream it Or Skip It?

On November 13, 2022, four students of the University of Idaho were brutally stabbed to death in an off-campus residence. Flash forward to July 2, 2025, when Bryan Kohberger, the main suspect in the case that shook the nation, pleads guilty on all counts of the murders. As Kohberger awaits trial in August, The Idaho Student Murders is the current number one title on Peacock, takes a deep dive into the intricacies of the investigation while also giving loved ones of the victims space to grieve and tell their stories. 

The Gist: The documentary starts with a 9-1-1 call from a terrified young woman, saying with a shaky, high-pitched voice, “Something happened in our house. We don’t know what.” As her and another student stay on the call with the dispatcher, we learn that one of the victims has stopped breathing. Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen, and Ethan Chapin — all bright, young college students whose lives were cut short by an unknown assailant.

For the most part, the beginning chunk of the film is dedicated to four friends of the victims tearfully sharing fond memories of their late friends and recalling their reactions to the dreadful news. According to the heartbreaking accounts of their loved ones, all of the victims were all kind, caring people who were popular among the University of Idaho student body. Who could’ve had anything against them? That’s the question that retired FBI agent Jennifer Coffindaffer, homicide prosecutor Jarret Ferentino, and other true crime experts attempt to answer in their investigation of the case.

In terms of leads, the police don’t have much — just footage of one particular car circling the victims’ residence and a knife sheath left on the scene. The investigators soon connect these pieces of evidence to Kohberger, a teacher’s assistant in the criminology department of Washington State University. As a suspect, Kohberger is not implausible — he fits a witness’s description, he has a notable history of mental illness, and his status as a graduate student in criminal justice could have given him knowledge on how to get away with committing this sort of crime. On the other hand, Kohberger has no prior history of violence, no connection to the victims themselves, and no concrete evidence pinning him to the scene on that fateful night. The investigators piece together the case with an underlying sense of uncertainty, constructing a detailed profile of their main suspect while constantly doubting if he is even the man they’re looking for.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: An easy choice would be The Idaho College Murders on HBO Max, which gives a broader overview of the case than this documentary does. I would also compare this film to Netflix’s A Deadly American Marriage, since both documentaries zero in on fatal tragedies occurring in the most unlikely of places. 

Performance Worth Watching:  It is clearly difficult for the four friends of the victims, Kaylee McConkey, Ruby Simpson, Leah Sullivan, and Sophia Whitehead, to recall the tragic events, but they paint a vivid picture of who the victims were as people. Their bravery in honoring the lives of the victims cannot be overstated.

Memorable Dialogue: The chilling words of the killer to one of the victims right before the slaughter: “It’s okay, I’m here to help you.”

Sex And Skin: None.

Our Take: It’s not at all uncommon for true crime documentaries to feel a bit exploitative in regards to the victims of the grisly murders they cover. We’ve all seen it before: forensics experts go into gratuitous detail about exactly how the victims were slashed and how much of their blood covered the walls of the crime scene. The docs then proceed to gloss over the lives of their victims and how their deaths affect the people around them, because that would ruin all the fun. Thankfully, The Idaho Student Murders doesn’t take this route. Instead of jumping into the excitement of a gory murder investigation immediately, the film spends the first 30-ish minutes of its runtime making sure that its viewers see the victims as real people. With gut-wrenching accounts from friends and family, we learn about the victim’s lives, their likes and dislikes, their goals, and the impact that their deaths have had on the community around them. In light of how recently the tragedy occurred, this doc sets itself apart by honoring and respecting the victims of the incident while never losing its gripping true crime charm.

Is it possible for a documentary like this to have you on the edge of your seat even if you’ve heard the news of Kohberger’s guilty plea? In my opinion, absolutely: the constant back-and-forth of the investigation with each new piece of evidence brought to light gets you to wonder what truly happened, even if you already know. The experts do their due diligence while explaining the case, making sure to mention at numerous points how shaky the connection truly is between Kohlberger and the incident, and how wrongfully convicting someone so young of a murder would be unforgivable on part of the police force.

While diving into Kohberger’s history of misogyny, the film also brings an interesting discussion to the table about how incel culture cultivates violence towards women, especially since Coffindaffer classifies this case as a femicide. If Kohberger’s past habits of being pushy on dates and following his female students to their cars is any indication, it’s likely that he, like many incels, felt entitled to the attention of pretty girls like the ones he allegedly killed, and was driven to violence when he didn’t receive it. Let’s just hope this important conversation about women’s safety continues after Kohberger is brought to court in August.

OUR CALL: The Idaho Student Murders strikes a perfect balance between honoring the victims and loved ones who were affected by the central tragedy and investigating the case and the twisted mind of the main suspect. STREAM IT!