Netflix’s three-part documentary Beauty and the Bester landed on the streaming service amid a legal challenge from its subject, Thabo Bester, who recently filed an injunction seeking to block the series’ release, according to reporting on the series. The show chronicles decades-long criminal allegations against Bester and the extraordinary events surrounding a 2022 prison fire that left a body burned beyond recognition.
Bester, who first surfaced in headlines more than a decade ago as the so-called “Facebook rapist,” was convicted of rape and murder and later became the focus of further legal scrutiny. He is currently in custody in South Africa and, according to the documentary and press accounts, is awaiting trial on additional charges. The series interlaces archival footage, interviews and investigative reporting to trace key episodes in the case, including a 2011 psychiatric evaluation, a 2012 prison interview with journalist Megan Baadjies and the contested events at Manguang Correctional Centre in 2022.
The documentary depicts Bester’s 2011 interview in which he acknowledged committing violent crimes, saying, "I did not feel like a normal human being anymore," and includes survivor testimony from Pearl Thusi, who described Bester as a psychopath after surviving an encounter in 2011. The film also details how, in 2022, a fire in Bester’s cell produced a body that authorities could not immediately identify. Prison officials initially described the death as a self-inflicted act. The event prompted further attention when television cosmetic surgeon and social-media personality Nandipha Magudumana arrived at the correctional facility claiming to be Bester’s common-law wife and insisted on taking possession of the remains.
Judge Edwin Cameron is a prominent figure in the documentary’s narrative. The series reports that Cameron determined available evidence did not support the conclusion of suicide and disclosed that information to the press; prosecutors subsequently reopened the investigation as a homicide. The film includes interviews with colleagues and family members of both Bester and Magudumana, who recount changes in behavior and business dealings around the time of the 2022 events, including Magudumana’s association with a foreign business partner identified in the series as TK Nkwana.
A review of the series by John Serba for Decider, published Sept. 15, 2025, praises the documentary’s production values and the intrinsic newsworthiness of the story while critiquing its structure. Serba writes that the series’ "remorselessly chopped-up, time-hopping narrative" is edited for dramatic effect and that a more linear presentation might better serve the complex timeline. He compares the series to other high-profile true-crime programs, naming Making a Murderer and American Nightmare, and describes Beauty and the Bester as "juicy" but cluttered in its storytelling. Serba concluded his review with a recommendation to stream the series.
The documentary raises outstanding questions that have drawn public interest and judicial attention: how the body in the cell came to be burned beyond recognition, why Magudumana was able to claim the remains, and whether there were lapses or cover-ups in custodial procedures. The film also touches on allegations and reporting about a prison escape and on public speculation surrounding the circumstances of Bester’s custody. The reviewer notes that the series largely recaps public records and reporting to date and expresses hope that later episodes will produce new reporting, particularly regarding Magudumana’s motives and the mechanics of the prison incident.
Beauty and the Bester situates itself within the crowded field of true-crime documentaries that blend archival material and interviews to reconstruct convoluted criminal narratives. The series’ arrival on Netflix and the legal effort to halt its distribution underscore ongoing tensions between media coverage and active legal processes in high-profile criminal cases. Netflix and representatives for Bester and Magudumana did not immediately provide comments to the outlet that reviewed the series. The documentary’s three episodes together run approximately 89 minutes, and the reviewer suggested that viewers are likely to continue watching to seek clearer answers amid the series’ layered presentation.