You know when someone tells you to watch a documentary and you think to yourself, “This is going to suck?” Well, when it comes to a new Netflix documentary, everyone is right about it.
The film Unknown Number: The High School Catfish came out over the holiday weekend and audiences were shocked by the twists and turns of the case. Lauryn Licari was a young high school student when she began getting unknown texts sent to her and her then boyfriend, Owen McKenny. Despite being the “It” couple of their high school, it didn’t mean that Licari was popular and it leads to a twisted look at high school dynamics, self hatred, and the fear of the anonymous.
**Spoilers for the documentary Unknown Number: The High School Catfish lie ahead**
The documentary is laid out pretty simply: Licari and her parents tell their side of the story at the same time as McKenny and his parents. They’re all talking about the couple getting to know each other and how the two sets of parents got close thanks to their kids dating. Basically, the situation seemed perfect. Then, the texts started to come in.
For the most part, the documentary highlights how their classmate, Khloe Wilson was seemingly framed in this case. Wilson is a popular girl who purposely didn’t invite Licari to her Halloween party but since McKenny was dating her, he planned to bring her with him anyway. That’s when the texts started to come through and why many believed, as the case was going on, that Wilson was behind the text messages. But then everything takes a turn when the FBI gets involved.
Who is the catfish after all?
The story goes on to show how Wilson was painted as the bad guy when ultimately the catfish was none other than Kendra Licari….Lauryn Licari’s own mother. Yes, the mother of the girl being bullied, who was told to end her own life by the person sending her texts, was being bullied and tortured by her own mother.
Now, here is where things get icky: Wilson’s family were, rightfully, angry that their daughter was made out to be a villain. But seeing how Wilson’s parents spoke about their daughter being “popular,” I know that that family wouldn’t care even if it was her who sent the original texts. Because Kendra Licari does say that she wasn’t the original person to text her daughter but she did continue the messages after she decided that McKenny and her daughter needed to break up.
On the one hand, it is upsetting to know that a mother would willingly hurt her own daughter like this. But on the other, Kendra Licari seemly has issues she needs to sort through that have nothing to do with Lauryn Licari.
So what is so shocking?
Outside of the reveal that Kendra Licari was sending her daughter vicious text messages daily, sometimes reaching upwards of 40+ messages a day, what is fascinating about Unknown Number: The High School Catfish is how people in this small town all interact with each other. The Wilson family did not show sympathy for Lauryn Licari and her father when the news came out. Instead, Wilson’s mother blamed them and claimed they were part of this.
I understand the anger that the Wilson family had. But I also know how young girls operate and Khloe Wilson’s response to questions didn’t exactly give off the energy of someone who was nice to everyone. So while we were all shocked by the Kendra Licari reveal, the Wilson family didn’t help.
But overall, this is just one of those cases where a documentary really surprises people and that’s what I think made it such an amazing watch!
(featured image: Netflix)
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