The Outreau Case: A French Nightmare – Netflix Review

THE OUTREAU CASE: A FRENCH NIGHTMARE on Netflix is a new true crime docuseries in four parts. A case spirals out of control and results in a crazy amount of arrests. Read our full The Outreau Case: A French Nightmare review here!

THE OUTREAU CASE: A FRENCH NIGHTMARE is a new Netflix documentary series from France. This true crime docuseries has four episodes and might sound like a lot, but in this case, it’s necessary.

The case spans several years, a vast amount of accusations and arrests, before all ending up as one of France’s biggest judicial tragedies. We’ve watched true crime cases before, where a prosecutor sees an opportunity for a career-making case. This seems like such a case!

Continue reading our The Outreau Case: A French Nightmare review below. Find it on Netflix now.

A huge case or a career-making case

The Netflix true crime docu-series The Outreau Case: A French Nightmare is a scary thing to watch. First, it’s scary because the crimes that children are accusing adults of are heinous. And also, there’s enough evidence that at least this one household was a living hell.

Then it turns scary because suddenly everyone living near this household is accused. Also, a lot more children come forward with accusations. Much of it seems connected or, at the very least, testimonies seem to fit together to support one another.

This all began in northern France in the early 2000s, when the young Judge Burgaud was in charge of investigating accusations of pedophilia in a family.

A brutal case involving just two families becomes a huge case that seems to involve most of the small suburb in one way or another. From accusations come counter-accusations, and a case is built entirely on testimonies and/or what the accused admits to.

Once the many defense lawyers become involved, physical examinations disproof the accusations, but this isn’t enough to untangle the legal machine powering on.

A justice years in the making

During The Outreau Case: A French Nightmare, we hear from both Judge Burgaud, several defense lawyers, the accused, and even one of the now-adult children from the original case that set the wheels in motion.

While there can be little (or no!) doubt that the original case of child abuse was very real, Judge Burgaud ended up building a case that reminded me of a few other documentaries.

In the Outreau case, the problem is that kids are the witnesses who are asked about very particular people and events. Often they simply agree to a story or build on something they are told. Even the “coincidences” make sense when all is revealed in episode 4.

A SIMILAR TRUE CRIME DOCUSERIES

Check out the Netflix docuseries The Confession Killer where one man admits to virtually every unsolved murder they ask him about.

In episode four, we finally come across a Judge who looks at the evidence – or the lack thereof. She’s a wonderful breath of fresh air in this Netflix docuseries, as she sits there with her red-framed glasses and floral-patterned pants.

As a Judge, she focuses on facts, which directly contradict the testimony. However, she never once blames the children for their false testimony. Rather, she recognizes they have been virtually brainwashed into repeating (maybe even believing) things that never happened.

Watch The Outreau Case: A French Nightmare on Netflix now!

The filmmakers involved with this Netflix true crime docuseries are Oron Adar, Anna Kwak (Who Killed Little Gregory?), Camille Le Pomellec, and Marika Mathieu.

As a documentary series, this works very well because there’s always some form of help for us viewers. Particularly in figuring out when in time, we are, and how the various people are connected.

There are many people (children and adults) involved in this case. A case that runs over several years, so it’s necessary to have this help. While the case is brutal, it also seems to be largely made up. Largely, but certainly not entirely.

A must-watch for anyone who enjoys getting to the bottom of true crime cases and recognizes how things spiral out of control. Both for victims and the accused, once outsiders see their shot for fame!

The Outreau Case: A French Nightmare was released on Netflix on March 15, 2024.