It seems like everyone is watching—and talking about—Netflix‘s Unbelievable. The series, based on a true story, centers on Marie (Kaitlyn Dever), a former foster teen who reports to local authorities that she was raped. But the officers, all men, don’t believe her story, citing inconsistencies in her statements. After several conversations, the cops essentially strong-arm Marie into saying she made the entire thing up. Her life unravels in the aftermath: Her friends disown her, she receives a demotion at work, and the city sues her for filing a false police report. But then, three years later, two female detectives (Toni Collette and Merritt Wever) start looking into several rape cases similar to Marie’s story and deduce that the same man is committing these assaults.
The show isn’t easy to watch. It’s gritty, and graphic, and it can be triggering for people who have experienced sexual assault. But the response to it online is overwhelmingly positive: Many are praising the series for its nuanced depiction of what sexual assault survivors go through when reporting their cases. “This is literally why women struggle with admitting to being sexually assaulted because they’re forced to relive the moment 60+ times, and then poked and prodded at by our legal system,” one person wrote on Twitter.
“If you’re someone whose first response to a rape being reported is ‘but they could be faking it’ you should watch the series #Unbelievable and educate your spiteful selves,” tweeted someone else.
Other viewers are calling for female officers to handle female sexual assault cases after watching Unbelievable. The series does an excellent job at showing how empathetic Collette’s and Wever’s characters are toward the women they work with. The male officers who handle Marie’s case are cold and mechanical, and they have an obvious bias against her. “I just started watching #Unbelievable and I firmly believe that a rape victim (if female) should be interviewed by a woman detective,” one person tweeted.
Read some more reactions to Unbelievable, below.
The show is currently streaming on Netflix.
