Netflix’s #1 Show Sparks Outrage: Viewers & Critics Call It “Tawdry” and “Absurd”

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The newest season of Netflix’s *Monster*, called *Monster: The Ed Gein Story*, is now available, but it’s receiving a lot of negative feedback from both audiences and reviewers.

Season three, developed by Ian Brennan, tells the story of Ed Gein, a notorious killer and grave robber, portrayed by Charlie Hunnam.

The show includes portrayals of Ed Gein’s mother, Augusta (played by Laurie Metcalf), as well as famous figures like director Alfred Hitchcock (Tom Hollander), his wife Alma Reville (Olivia Williams), and actor Anthony Perkins (Joey Pollari). It premiered on October 3rd, and there are plans for a fourth season about Lizzie Borden.

This crime drama tells the story of Ed Gein and his disturbing crimes, which famously influenced iconic horror movies like *Psycho*, *The Texas Chain Saw Massacre*, and *The Silence of the Lambs*. However, the latest season has received mostly negative reviews from critics, despite the interesting subject matter.

Currently, Rotten Tomatoes reports a 29% approval rating, and Metacritic gives it a user score of 53%. Overall, the movie has received mostly mixed to negative reviews.

Critics argue that the season struggles with pacing and focus, feeling drawn out and confusing.

Many viewers found the portrayal excessively dramatic and exploitative, feeling it focused more on shock value than on respectfully telling the story of the victims. Critics also described the tone as overly theatrical and lacking depth, arguing that it seemed to glamorize the perpetrator, Ed Gein, rather than focusing on the true horror of his crimes.

As a huge fan of true crime and scary stories, I’m really excited about the next installment in Netflix’s ‘Monster’ series! They’re releasing ‘Monster: The Ed Gein Story’ next week, and I’m already preparing to be spooked.

— Netflix (@netflix) September 26, 2025

Even though many critics didn’t like the show, the acting – especially Charlie Hunnam’s performance as Gein – was a definite highlight. However, the way the series blended real historical events with fictional drama didn’t appeal to a lot of viewers.

Season 3 of Monster is simply unpleasant to watch, bringing feelings of boredom, frustration, confusion, and even disgust. It’s not just a bad season—it feels deliberately confusing and makes little sense.

Greg MacArthur

Okay, so I finally finished watching ‘Monster: The Ed Gein Story,’ and honestly, I feel a little dirty for it. It doesn’t really tell a story so much as… almost glorify the subject, and it just left me feeling bad, but not in a way that made it a compelling watch. It was just… unpleasant.

Kate Sánchez

Ryan Murphy’s *Monster: The Ed Gein Story* takes a genuinely terrifying true crime and transforms it into a silly, over-the-top mess. It attempts to make Ed Gein sympathetic while minimizing the horror experienced by his victims – a truly misguided approach. This series deserves serious criticism.

Joseph Robinson

As a huge fan of true crime and horror, I was really disappointed with the latest season of ‘Monster’. Ryan Murphy usually delivers something gripping, but this time around, the way he speculated and added dramatic flair felt really heavy-handed. They tried to tell the story of a classic serial killer across eight episodes, but honestly, it just felt drawn out and ultimately failed to capture the chilling essence of the original story – it completely missed the mark, and sadly, ruined the potential of what could have been a great series.

Nicholas Bell

I find it frustrating how Murphy and his team dwell on the disturbing details of these crimes, but then don’t actually center the story around the person who committed them – Ed Gein. It feels hypocritical that they want to shock us with true crime, yet also expect us to feel bad for being captivated by it. It’s a strange contradiction that really bothers me.

Alan French

The idea of a series about Ed Gein’s life had potential, but it didn’t quite succeed in blending factual storytelling with entertainment.

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2025-10-06 14:20