Netflix has been criticized on social media after its new documentary, Unknown Caller: The High School Catfish, featured an interview with Kendra Licari, the Michigan mother who admitted sending months of sexually explicit and harassing text messages to her then-12-year-old daughter and the girl’s then-13-year-old boyfriend.
The documentary recounts the case of Lauryn Licari and Owen McKenny of Beal City, Michigan, who began receiving anonymous messages in October 2020 that escalated into a sustained campaign of cyberbullying lasting nearly two years. After a lengthy investigation that involved local police, the sheriff’s office and the FBI, investigators traced the messages to Kendra Licari, who pleaded guilty to two counts of assaulting a minor and was sentenced to 19 months to five years in prison. She was released in August of last year.
Viewers on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, said the documentary allowed Kendra to present her rationale without sufficient challenge from filmmakers. Several users posted that the film blurred the line between exposing wrongdoing and providing a platform for manipulation. One user wrote, "Netflix is platforming predators in documentaries without challenging them. I don't appreciate how she was allowed to present herself in the first half. They didn't expand on the fact she's a predator and not just a stalker." Another said the series turned "trauma into content" and accused producers of enabling a sympathetic framing.
The texts, which the documentary shows began on the night of a school Halloween party, included messages alleging an affair between Owen and the anonymous texter and later escalated to sexualized insults and direct commands for Lauryn to kill herself. Family members and school officials described the messages as vulgar and alarming, and school administrators installed cameras and pulled students from class during the investigation.
Parents and school officials initially suspected someone in the students’ circle because the messages included details about the teens’ lives. The harassment intensified after Lauryn and Owen broke up, officials said, with the texter continuing to send dozens of messages a day, sometimes through the night. Lauryn told filmmakers the messages changed her self-image and affected her mental health.
Investigators eventually sought FBI assistance. A liaison traced internet activity and IP addresses to devices associated with Kendra Licari, who had a background in information technology, the documentary shows. Police served a search warrant and questioned her; she admitted to sending the messages. Prosecutors said Kendra told investigators she began the campaign seeking answers and that it escalated into an obsession. She also told family members she had been working, though prosecutors said she had been fired from two jobs and spent hours a day sending texts.
In the documentary, Kendra speaks about a spiral that engulfed her and references childhood trauma as part of her explanation. She told filmmakers she sometimes spent up to eight hours a day sending messages and called her behavior a mistake. Lauryn’s father has said he was unaware of his wife’s actions.
Some viewers singled out a moment in the documentary when a producer appeared to suggest an alternative explanation — that Kendra might have been sending the messages to herself — and expressed anger that the interview allowed Kendra to reframe her role. Other critics said producers must keep subjects comfortable to secure interviews, but added that comfort should not come at the expense of scrutiny.
Victims’ families described the toll the harassment took on the teens and on community relationships. Owen and Lauryn met in seventh grade; their families became close and supported the relationship. After the texts began, friendships frayed. Owen told filmmakers he was "speechless" upon learning Kendra was the sender and described her behavior as obsessive and inappropriate, saying it felt like an attraction rather than the actions of a parent. He and Lauryn no longer communicate.
Lauryn, now in college studying criminology, told the filmmakers she still wants a relationship with her mother despite the abuse. She described a range of emotions after the truth emerged, from shock to sadness and anger. Kendra is prohibited from contact with her daughter under the terms of her release, but, according to the documentary, she hopes they can reconcile in the future.
Netflix has not publicly responded to the social media criticism. The Daily Mail, which first reported on viewers’ reactions to the documentary, said it had reached out to Netflix for comment.
The case drew attention in part because the perpetrator was a parent within the teens’ social circle. Law enforcement officials described the messages as unusually explicit and damaging, and school administrators said the volume and content of the texts made the investigation particularly difficult. The FBI’s involvement led to the digital-forensics work that connected the anonymous messages to Kendra’s devices.
Legal records show Kendra Licari pleaded guilty to two counts of assaulting a minor. She was sentenced to 19 months to five years in prison and released in August last year. The documentary includes court and investigative details alongside interviews with the victims, their families and law enforcement.
Criticism of the documentary on X focused not on the subject matter but on editorial decisions. Some viewers argued that giving screen time to a convicted abuser without more rigorous on-camera challenge can risk amplifying harmful narratives. The filmmakers framed the interview as part of a fuller account of the case; the backlash underscores an ongoing debate about how true-crime and documentary makers should handle access to perpetrators while protecting victims and public understanding.
Unknown Caller: The High School Catfish is the latest in a trend of streaming documentaries that revisit school-based or online harassment cases. The series presents the sequence of texts, the community response, the investigation and the legal outcome while featuring first-person accounts from those directly involved.
Lauryn and Owen’s case remains a cautionary example cited by educators, parents and law enforcement about how anonymous online harassment can devastate young people’s lives and complicate community ties when the perpetrator is within the social network. The documentary’s release renewed public discussion about ethical choices for filmmakers covering sensitive criminal cases and the responsibilities of platforms that distribute those films.