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Season 1 – The Confession Tapes

Play trailer Poster for Season 1 – The Confession Tapes Sep 2017 Documentary Crime Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 8 Reviews 78% Popcornmeter 50+ Ratings
When is a confession not a confession? When it's involuntary, coerced or downright false. Those are the claims made by the subjects featured in this true-crime series. Each episode goes inside a case in which a murder suspect made a confession but later backtracked. Episodes include interviews with investigators, lawyers, wrongful conviction experts and people close to those involved in the cases. Audio and video recordings of the suspects' interactions with members of law enforcement are also presented to help determine the legality of the confessions.
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The Confession Tapes — Season 1

Critics Reviews

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Nick Schager The Daily Beast 12/19/2017
The Confession Tapes makes a cogent, compelling argument that, under the right circumstances, a declaration of guilt isn't worth more than the videotape on which it's recorded. Go to Full Review
Rachel Cooke New Statesman 09/25/2017
Yes, it's compulsive. Stoked by bloody police photographs, the atmosphere can be suspenseful to a queasy-making degree. Go to Full Review
James Delingpole The Spectator 05/23/2019
The first two episodes of this documentary concerned a miscarriage of justice so outrageous I could barely endure it to the end. Go to Full Review
Kiera Allen Daily Journal (Kankakee, IL) 08/26/2018
For anyone who enjoyed the Netflix docu-series Making a Murderer or The Keepers, The Confession Tapes" is your next show worthy of a binge. Go to Full Review
Kayla Cobb Decider 12/19/2017
The Confession Tapes does what good documentaries do best - it makes viewers re-examine a subject they thought they knew. Go to Full Review
Corey Chichizola CinemaBlend 09/19/2017
Each story unravels fascinatingly in the one hour episode. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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10/12/2020 Great but depressing. You are not immune to incriminating yourself. This doc proves you can go to prison for the rest of your life while you are *trying* to help the police solve a crime you had nothing to do with. Never talk to police. It can only hurt you. Some particulars: research some of the episodes beforehand, as they show images of dead children, which --- if you have children --- will probably haunt you just in themselves. Also appreciated is letting both sides be interviewed. It lets you make up your own mind about the situation. See more greg r @itsgregsworld 08/30/2019 Guaranteed sleep material. Giant yawn! See more flixster f 02/12/2019 Rating based on the first two episodes. Haven't watched all of 'em when this is being written. See more 09/20/2018 This will actually question and challenge your judgment and analytic skills. You'll be torn between feeling sorry and "then why the hell you confessed?!" for most of people convicted. Showing a different case for the first two episodes is a bright idea. Then everything will change on the rest of it. This also made me realize that justice can be really unfair in all parts of the world. Sad truth :( A must-see for those who like ci and any investigative crime docus :) See more 05/14/2018 wow. If anyone wants to see how police can bring about a false confession watch this documentary. I understand netflix very possibly has an agenda here, at the very least I understand they show what they want to show. the feeling that i wasn't being shown the entirety of each show came early on. That being said, i learned enough watching each show to learn that basically the police have more power than we'd like to admit. some of the police were interviewed all of these years later and were still openly, 100%, positively sure that the inicidents went exactly as they said they did. even with the possible evidence they were wrong all along staring them in the face. If that doesn't tell you something I don't know what does. episodes # 6 and 7 are horrendous. i honestly don't know if the lead police in these cases are pure evil or just simply ignorant. the defense lawyer in episode 7 had the roughest road ahead of him. i had to actually watch the 7th episode twice in it's entirety i was so floored. See more 03/23/2018 This is one of the most intriguing series I have ever seen. This show can give anyone and everyone a new perspective on false confessions! It's a must-watch. See more Read all reviews
The Confession Tapes — Season 1

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Episodes

Episode 1 Aired Sep 8, 2017 True East Two teens are targeted by undercover police officers after a triple murder; the officers use a controversial technique to try to extract a confession. Details Episode 2 Aired Sep 8, 2017 True East As the teens' trial unfolds, the suspects start to understand the serious implications of their confessions. Details Episode 3 Aired Sep 8, 2017 A Public Apology A man insists that he was coerced into confessing to his girlfriend's murder; DNA evidence reveals the truth years later. Details Episode 4 Aired Sep 8, 2017 Trial by Fire Following a deadly fire, the victim's mother is accused of -- and confesses to -- murder; the defense presents an alternate theory during the trial. Details Episode 5 Aired Sep 8, 2017 8th and H After receiving an anonymous tip, police officers interrogate alleged gang members about a brutal attack, but nobody in the neighborhood has heard of the gang. Details Episode 6 Aired Sep 8, 2017 The Labor Day Murders Circumstantial evidence points to the nephew of a murder victim as having committed the crime; the suspect endures a marathon interrogation without a lawyer present. Details Episode 7 Aired Sep 8, 2017 Down River A man drives his four children into a river, where they drown; he initially confesses to doing it purposefully but later claims it was an accident. Details
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Season Info

Director
Kelly Loudenberg
Creator
Kelly Loudenberg
Screenwriter
Kelly Loudenberg
Network
Netflix
Rating
TV-MA
Genre
Documentary, Crime
Original Language
English
Release Date
Sep 8, 2017
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