Netflix puts out tons of new content every week, and while some of it is critically beloved, other things get panned or don’t get much critical attention at all. One of the streamer’s new shows this May, though, has debuted with a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes.
American Manhunt: Osama bin Ladin is a documentary series that tells the story of the hunt for Osama bin Ladin the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attack. Although he was known in the years before 9/11, bin Ladin became U.S. intelligence’s top target in the aftermath of the attacks, and it took nearly 10 years to track him down.
The miniseries is just three episodes and three hours, but chronicles the hunt from the days immediately following the attacks all the way through to 2011 when he was killed following a SEAL team operation.
The critical reception for this miniseries is roughly on par with other docuseries that have come under the American Manhunt mantle. The Trial of O.J. Simpson also had a perfect critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, and The Boston Marathon Bombing had an 89% score. Although these docuseries have often caught fire on the platform, they aren’t often being reviewed by every major television critic, so there might be some element of self-selection involved here.
Even so, this story has undeniable intrigue for Netflix subscribers, and is quickly becoming a part of American history. 9/11 was almost 25 years ago, although the aftermath of those attacks is still reverberating through American society all these years later.