‘Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story’ Review: A Disturbing Netflix Documentary About the Serial Killers Next Door
It takes a lot to shock me these days. I’ve seen countless gut-wrenching true crime documentaries, which sets the bar for what unsettles me mighty high. It’s not that I’m looking to be disturbed! I just have an interest in the criminal mind, and that has motivated me to endure some really unsavory programming over the years. So, when I say that the subject matter explored in the new Netflix series Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story unnerved me, that should give you some idea as to exactly how depraved their story really is.
Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story follows UK natives (and accused serial killers) Fred and Rose West. The pair shares no less than 10 children between them, which means that from a distance, they appeared very much like any other family. With that said, these two were nothing like any family you can imagine.
Rose may well have started off as one of Fred’s victims. She was just a teenager when they met, and he was in his late 20s. Fred groomed and manipulated Rose from the jump, ultimately impregnating her before she was old enough to vote. The pair stayed together for the long haul, with Rose seemingly indoctrinated into a life of depravity at Fred’s behest.
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Though many aspects of this series appear fairly cut and dried, director Daniel Dewsbury does a fine job of presenting the facts, then allowing the audience to take it all in. He never tells us what to think, instead painting a compelling portrait with the available information, and ultimately allowing the viewer to take it from there.
Without going into too much detail, Fred was almost certainly a textbook psychopath with violent sexual impulses. With sociopathy and narcissism as likely co-morbidities, it’s no great surprise that he ultimately gave in to his destructive desires. What makes that especially sad, though, is the idea that he wasn’t just content to self-destruct. It seems he had designs on doing as much harm as humanly possible and was more than happy to drag the people he was supposed to love (including the children he and Rose shared) along with him.
Though it doesn’t take a lot of thought to get a read on Fred, things get harder to interpret once Rose enters the picture. It’s clear that Fred felt something for her, that he valued her greatly. However, with his decidedly sociopathic tendencies, there’s little chance that he was able to feel actual love for her. Love requires empathy, something sociopaths are largely incapable of possessing. So, what exactly did he feel for her? Perhaps a fondness and a camaraderie?
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Rose came from a background of abuse, knew nothing different, and was therefore probably more likely to look past Fred’s manipulations and violent tendencies. The terrifying thing about that is that she likely never had a chance. Sure, she’s unequivocally accountable for her actions as we all are, but the idea that her early-adolescent life experiences led her to take up with a deviant psychopath in search of love is heartbreaking by any measure.
No one deserves that fate. However, it’s impossible to ignore the idea that Rose had free will and likely began to enjoy the depraved acts in which she almost certainly partook. It’s sad that the social services system failed her and that instead of healing from her trauma, she went on to perpetuate the cycle of violence.
Regardless of any ambiguity surrounding exactly how culpable Rose is, one thing remains certain: Fred was depraved on a level that we rarely see, even with serial killers. He was so detached that he killed women whose names he either didn’t know or didn’t care to remember. He preyed upon the vulnerable and the marginalized (including his own children) and couldn’t even bring himself to see his victims as human beings.
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Watching him discuss some of his alleged victims with police is a lot to take in. Fred comes across as actively annoyed that anyone would even have the audacity to look for these young women he stands accused of killing. It’s almost as if it’s come full circle, and he feels victimized by the police. That surely indicates a total lack of perspective and an unmatched level of narcissism.
I left a lot of the most distressing details out of this critique to allow the uninitiated to experience the series for themselves. So, if you plan to watch Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story, brace yourself. This is a jarring viewing experience that you won’t soon be able to scrub from your mind.
If I haven’t successfully deterred you from seeking out the program, you can scope the series on Netflix now.
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Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story
Summary
‘Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story’ is a chilling look at depravity in its most unadulterated form.
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