Stream It Or Skip It? 

Directed by Emily Turner and written by Turner with Jinx Godfrey, the Netflix documentary Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers draws on extensive interviews with and footage of Aileen Wuornos herself for a reassessment of her story. Of course, it’s one that’s been told before. And the true crime industry is a beast which always requires fresh sustenance. But Queen of the Serial Killers finds valuable new angles as it considers the serial killer’s confession, 1992 trial, and 2002 execution against the facts of Wuornos’ life, accounts of the sexual violence she experienced, and a Florida court system and larger culture that demanded a conviction of the woman declared “The hooker from Hell.”  

The Gist: It’s 1997, and Aileen Wuornos is waiting to die on Florida’s death row. This is no true crime reenactment, not a Hollywood actress. This is the real woman we see and hear on video, as she meets with filmmaker Jasmine Hurst and her crew. She wanted to give Hurst the real story of her life and crimes. Wanted to get right with God before the end. But there’s a gleam in Wuornos’ eye, too. She’s gregarious. Loves to be interviewed. Is really good at telling a story. She hugs Hurst, and whispers in her ear. “You guys are gonna make millions off this.”

The footage that opens Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers is fascinating for its combination of everything that makes Wuornos such a powerful subject for true crime. A woman who confessed to killing seven men, who wishes to die for her sins – and who clearly relishes the spotlight – but who also stresses the inequities of her prosecution. “She’s like the trifecta,” Hurst says in an interview for Queen. “Gay, female, sex worker, and killing white men.”

As Wuornos describes her rough upbringing and life on the road as a young woman, engaging in sex work just to survive, Queen of the Serial Killers also interviews former Ocala, Florida Sheriff’s Office captain Steve Binegar, who led the Wuornos investigation. Binegar details evidence found at the crime scenes, and the profile they developed of a female prostitute killing and robbing male clients. There are grisly photos of bullet-riddled bodies. And an incredible grainy time capsule of police surveillance footage which captures live the 1991 arrest of Wuornos outside the Last Resort, a Central Florida dive.

When Wuornos confessed to police – Queen also includes this, live from the police interview room – it was to take heat off Tyria Moore, the woman she loved. But with the arrest and confession comes the next phase of the documentary, which is a lengthy look at the ensuing court dates and murder trial, which Florida state authorities removed a woman judge from hearing and featured a lead prosecutor, John Tanner, who was an avowed Christian and anti-porn crusader. According to the ousted judge, Gayle Graziano, as well as allies of Wuornos like childhood friend Dawn Botkins and adoptive mother Arlene Pralle, the state had no intention of ever giving their confessed killer a fair trial. She was an immoral woman – “a wild, boozing lesbian” news reports blare – who murdered white men. Cut and dry, even if there was much more to Wuornos’ own background and the violent histories of some of her victims that could have been admissible at trial, and changed the story as it’s come to be known.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of? While Charlize Theron won an Academy Award for her portrayal of Aileen Wuornos in Monster, versions of Wuornos have also appeared. Like Peyton List playing Wuornos in American Boogeywoman, which revels in Lifetime Movie-style speculation about her story. Queen of the Serial Killers also doesn’t claim to be the first true crime doc about the case. Notably, Nick Broomfield made two different films about Wuornos, The Selling of a Serial Killer and Life and Death of a Serial Killer, which both questioned how Wuornos’ story was exploited by authorities. Queen also includes footage from and discussion about Overkill: The Aileen Wuornos Story – Jean Smart played Aileen in that one – a 1992 film where producers made a deal with Florida police for details about the case “before she even pled a plea,” according to Jackie Giroux, an interviewee.

Performance Worth Watching: Maybe it’s more like what performance by Aileen Wuornos we are watching. Because Queen includes entire chunks of footage where she speaks about her crimes in the first-person, with different details every time. The death row interview with Hurst, Dateline interviews from the era with correspondent Michele Gillen, even Wuornos’ testimony at trial: they each offer fresh perspective, or are reflective in a different way. 

Memorable Dialogue: Film producer Jackie Giroux says Aileen Wournos liked, even targeted the spotlight. “She ordered everyone around like Faye Dunaway on steroids. Because the news media made her the queen of serial killers, and that was her notoriety. She wanted to be a star.”

Sex and Skin: Queen of the Serial Killers includes graphic imagery from crime scenes, as well as frank descriptions of rape and sexual violence.  

Our Take: Nowadays true crime is so popular and prevalent, and presented in a certain style, that it’s as if the trend emerged fully-formed, direct from the contemporary podcast landscape. But what the archival footage and media reports seen in Queen of the Serial Killers illustrates is how it’s always been with us, just like the attitudes that make it popular. In 1990, Aileen Wuornos became an overnight true crime sensation. The details of her story were just too juicy. That it was a lesbian woman murdering white men was too intoxicating. And that this was happening in Florida, where jury selection was hampered by people declaring God had spoken to them on the matter, and the lead prosecutor had a Christian cheering section outside the courthouse, completed its ascendence to true crime legend. The title of the doc is derived from a direct quote. But it stands up. While Wuornos is certainly unique among serial killers, watching this film, we began to consider her as the queen of true crime itself.

Because where in the course of her actions did Wuornos herself realize this? She describes the moments after a violent sexual assault and her shooting of the man – her client – who attacked her, and how she could best characterize the circumstances to the cops. In no way did she premeditate her attack, or her response. But once the murders began, and in all of her interviews and correspondence post-arrest, the story built and built until her decisions and role within it link to larger modes in society: sexism, social conservatism, religious fervor, and old-fashioned spectacle. By the time of her sentencing to death row, Wuornos realized her story had become fodder for something much larger. She had become True Crime. “I’ve been framed. I’ve been set up. I’m ready to die and get out of your evil.”  

Our Call: Stream It. Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers is a worthy reassessment of a story that on its own is an all-timer for the true crime form. With incredible access to relevant footage – and numerous interviews with Aileen Wuornos herself – Queen gives fair consideration to every angle on her story. The punitive, The public, and in the end, the most personal.

Johnny Loftus (@johnnyloftus.bsky.social) is a Chicago-based writer. A veteran of the alternative weekly trenches, his work has also appeared in Entertainment Weekly, Pitchfork, The All Music Guide, and The Village Voice.