Friends Like These: The Murder of Skylar Neese – Review | Hulu

FRIENDS LIKE THESE: THE MURDER OF SKYLAR NEESE is a new Hulu true crime documentary series in three parts. In my opinion, this should have been a documentary feature. Also, it would have made more sense to make it if they had anything new to add. Read our full Friends Like These: The Murder of Skylar Neese docuseries review here!

FRIENDS LIKE THESE: THE MURDER OF SKYLAR NEESE on Hulu and Disney+ is a true crime documentary series. If it wasn’t because the parents of Skylar Neese participated in this, I would only have given it a 2 out of 5 rating. I admit that it is entirely out of respect for them and their loss that I pull this up, being “fresh” rather than “rotten”.

This docuseries suffers from exactly the same issues as Murder in Glitterball City. Or actually, this Hulu documentary series doesn’t even have the police footage, which it desperately lacks. We’re left with a polygraph examiner retelling what happened during the questioning of one of the perpetrators. It’s all just too strange to me.

Continue reading our Friends Like These: The Murder of Skylar Neese docuseries review below. Find it on Hulu & Hulu on Disney+ from March 6, 2026.

A brutal murder and unnecessary tragedy

Obviously, any murder is an unnecessary tragedy, but it’s still on a somewhat different level here. Friends Like These: The Murder of Skylar Neese is the story of how 16-year-old Skylar Neese was murdered. At first, it was a missing person case, then it became clear that something much more sinister had happened.

So much played out “live” via social media, yet you can hardly blame anyone for not anticipating this would be the outcome. And yet, it also seems like much had gone wrong for a long time, so maybe someone should have stepped in?! I can’t speak as to how or when, but I imagine people around them have been asking themselves this ever since.

The murder happened in 2012, and as this is a true crime case that has been covered extensively, I think it’s safe to reveal that her best friends killed her. Of course, this also begs the question: Why does this docuseries take so long to get to this “reveal”, which is already a known fact?

It’s not like we expect her to be found alive. I mean, even if you don’t know about the case, this is titled The Murder of Skylar Neese. You’ve already revealed where it’s heading, so why spend half the runtime on everything around this fact?!

So much time spent on “fluff”

With three episodes, there is a lot of repetition and many people wanting to speak their mind. Out of the friends who knew both Skylar and those “friends” who ended her life, only one seems to really have any valid reason for being in the documentary. The rest are more there out of association (they went to High School with all three) than any valuable insight.

The one person I do want to hear from is Fantasia. She knew one of the killers very well and knew of the issues in the friendship between the three people at the heart of this tragedy. Finally, she spent a lot of time with this person prior to her being arrested. In that sense, she can validly speak about having trust issues; She was hanging out with a murderer and had no idea.

Many of the others are valid enough to be included in Friends Like These: The Murder of Skylar Neese, so I don’t blame them for participating. What I do have an issue with is the fact that so much time is spent on them. That’s something the documentary filmmakers should fix, not a critique of them being involved. It’s just way too much “fluff” for me and takes away from the key issue.

Watch Friends Like These on Hulu & Hulu on Disney+

The Friends Like These: The Murder of Skylar Neese is directed by Clair Titley. She previously made The Contestant (2023), which I prefer. That was also a Hulu project, so this one is her second. The series producer is BAFTA winner Josie Besbrode (Libby, Are You Home Yet?).

I have to say that I am not a fan of how diaries and private letters are used in this true crime docuseries. Anything written on Twitter (which was the main social media for these girls in 2012) is fair game, as it was shared publicly. However, having actors read the private words of both the victim and the convicted killers? I do not like that.

We’re talking about the diaries of teenage girls. Not something made or meant for public consumption.

As stated initially, I respect that the parents of Skylar Neese are clearly onboard with this production being made. However, I didn’t care for many of the choices, and it doesn’t bring much (if anything) new to the table. So, you can watch this to get the story about the murder of Skylar Neese, and see how her parents have clearly suffered ever since. Just don’t expect too much.

Friends Like These: The Murder of Skylar Neese is out on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ on March 6, 2026. Internationally, it will be out on Disney+ on the same date.