Entertainment · 23 November 2025
Zodiac doc becomes film about true crime
British filmmaker Charlie Shackleton's documentary project about the Zodiac Killer collapsed when the Lafferty family withdrew rights to a retired cop's book claiming to identify the serial killer. Shackleton transformed his failure into a meta-documentary examining true crime industry tropes, analyzing formulaic techniques like dramatic reenactments, evocative B-roll footage, and manufactured suspense that make different crimes indistinguishable.
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