Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Dave Kroupa lives an ordinary American life as a mechanic until he tries online dating, where he meets a woman who becomes dangerously obsessed with him. Directed by Sam Hobkinson, the 2024 Netflix documentary ‘Love, Stalker, Killer’ immediately intrigues viewers with its unusual premise: a man is stalked, harassed, and threatened over the years by a woman.
About 90 minutes long, ‘Lover, Stalker, Killer’ is anchored by several interviews with people involved in the case, primarily Dave Kroupa himself, along with his ex-wife, and the officers who investigated the case when it took a violent turn. Kroupa’s stalker sets his girlfriend’s house on fire and then even gloats about it via texts. Even though I didn’t know anything about this case, it becomes very apparent what was really happening to Dave within the first fifteen minutes. Although my guess could have been proven wrong by the end, it still makes you seriously wonder why it took years for the police to figure out what was happening.
Despite its crisp runtime, the documentary unfolds at a very slow pace, with the creators spending too much time on repetitive shots and little tidbits by the interviewees about their own lives, which have no direct bearing on the case and would be of minimal interest to viewers. For example, one of the investigators discusses how his own marriage was going through a rough patch while he was working extra hours to solve the Dave Kroupa case. Some of these personal revelations by the officers who worked on the case were entirely unnecessary in the documentary and only served to slow down its pace. Instead, the creators should have allocated more time to what happens when Kroupa’s stalker is finally arrested and brought to trial. While it’s mentioned that the legal case will be challenging, the court proceedings move at a lightning speed, with only a few minutes dedicated to the trial.
Overall, “Lover, Stalker, Killer” provides an intriguing glimpse into a case that seems quite bizarre at first glance: a woman dedicating years of her life to creepily stalking a man she had barely dated for weeks, sending him thousands of nasty messages, and even targeting his ex-wife and children. However, it barely delves into the character of the “stalker” and her motivations, or whether she had a shady past that could shed light on her actions. In the end, there are quite a few unanswered questions, and considering the material the creators have, this documentary could have been condensed to sixty minutes.
Stream “Lover, Stalker, Killer” on Netflix.
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