Unsettling Netflix documentary leaves viewers 'struggling to sleep'

Netflix has built a reputation with striking, shocking true crime documentaries, but Beauty and the Bester feels like another level altogether. The story of South Africa's Thabo Bester, known as the "Facebook Rapist", and his connection with celebrity doctor Nandipha Magudumana, is so bizarre and disturbing that it resembles a Hollywood script.

At the core of the documentary is Bester himself, a convicted murderer and rapist who used social media to target women. His crimes were already well known, but it was his 2022 prison escape that caused shockwaves worldwide. Believed to have died in a fire in his cell at Mangaung Prison, Bester had actually faked his death, using another man's body as a decoy, before disappearing into a life of luxury outside the prison.

What makes this documentary compelling is not just the audacity of the escape, but the involvement of Dr Nandipha Magudumana, as an established businesswoman. Her involvement in helping a convicted criminal who had preyed on women break free from prison left viewers feeling unsettled and repulsed.

One viewer typed on X: "Dr Nandipha really threw a great life away for that man." A second replied: "Dr Nandipha lets a convicted murderer and rapist be around her kids! This is the wildest thing ever. Totally disregarding their safety. Idiotic." While a third added: "This is the most insane thing I have ever watched!" A fourth remarked: "This whole situation with Bester and Nandipha is deeply unsettling. How can she leave her kids like that!"

Throughout the episodes, there are survivor testimonies, interviews with journalists, archive footage, and a carefully paced narrative that keep viewers gripped throughout. Not only does it explore the couple's relationship, but it also begins to pull back the curtain on exposed cracks in South Africa's justice system.

In one extremely uncomfortable scene, we see the couple in court smiling at each other like a pair of love-sick teenagers, shortly after verbally abusive messages from Bester to the doctor have been revealed, leaving the viewer conflicted as to whether Nandipha is acting of her own free will in this saga or if she is another of the con-man's victims.

The drama didn't end with the couple's capture either, as they attempted to block the release of the series, claiming defamation, before a South African judge cleared Netflix to go ahead. Although the crime genre is crowded, Beauty and the Bester certainly caught my attention, leaving viewers with many unanswered questions.