Netflix’s Latest Obsession:
Netflix has a knack for delivering documentaries that grip the internet, but Unknown Number: The High School Catfish might just be its most disturbing addition yet. Directed by Skye Borgman (Girl in the Picture, Abducted in Plain Sight), the film stormed into the streamer’s Top 10 movies worldwide, instantly sparking heated debates across Threads, Reddit, and X (Twitter).
At its center: a seemingly simple teenage romance that spirals into a psychological nightmare, exposing betrayal at the deepest level, within a family.
What Is the Documentary About?
The story follows Lauryn Licari, a high school student from Michigan, and her boyfriend Owen McKenney. In 2020, just months into their relationship, the two started receiving hundreds of harassing text messages from an anonymous number.
The texts were cruel, obsessive, and manipulative. One read: “Hi Lauren, Owen is breaking up with you… he no longer likes you.” Others escalated into vicious insults, sexually explicit content, and even encouragement to self-harm.
For nearly two years, Lauryn and Owen lived under the weight of this digital harassment. Their lives were consumed by fear, doubt, and suspicion, until the shocking reveal shattered everything.
The Shocking Twist: Who Was Behind It?
When the FBI finally traced the anonymous messages, the culprit was not a classmate, not an ex, not even a jealous peer.
It was Lauryn’s own mother, Kendra Licari.
Kendra, a respected teacher in the community, had been secretly tormenting her daughter and her friends by sending more than 50 texts a day through anonymized messaging apps. She confessed in 2021 and later pleaded guilty to stalking a minor.
Her sentence: 19 months to 5 years in prison. She was released on parole in 2024 with restrictions on contacting Lauryn until 2026.
Why Is Netflix Facing Backlash?
While the documentary carefully lays out the shocking events, what has really set the internet ablaze is Netflix’s decision to give Kendra herself screen time.
Viewers felt disturbed, even outraged, that the abuser was allowed to explain her “side.” On Threads, one viral post read:
“Was it really necessary to give a platform to the abuser to explain her side? There is nothing that justifies what she did to her own daughter and those kids.”
Redditors echoed similar anger, with many arguing that Netflix risked humanizing a predator who drove her own daughter to the brink of despair.
The Ethical Debate:
The documentary industry often wrestles with a tough question: Do we hear the villain out, or do we deny them a voice?
On one hand, filmmakers argue that including the perpetrator’s perspective makes the narrative “balanced” and helps audiences understand the psychology behind such acts. In “Unknown Number, Kendra speaks about her own unresolved trauma and misguided intentions to “protect” her daughter.
But many viewers felt that this “context” blurred into excuse-making, overshadowing the unimaginable damage she caused. For them, the danger isn’t just what Kendra did, it’s the possibility that audiences walk away with sympathy for someone who encouraged her child to self-harm.
Why Does It Matter?
Unknown Number: The High School Catfish isn’t just a shocking documentary. It forces us to confront a darker reality: abuse doesn’t always come from strangers, sometimes it comes from those closest to us.
And beyond the story itself, it leaves us with questions about media responsibility:
Should victims be forced to share space with their abuser’s voice?
Does giving perpetrators a platform help us understand, or risk normalizing the unforgivable?
Final Take:
Whether you see it as brave storytelling or exploitative platforming, one thing is clear: Unknown Number: The High School Catfish is the documentary no one can stop talking about. It’s chilling, heartbreaking, and bound to keep sparking debates long after the credits roll.
For Netflix, the controversy might actually fuel its popularity, but for Lauryn and others like her, the scars of betrayal run far deeper than any trending chart.
