Skye Borgman is the Queen of True Crime Documentaries

The name Skye Borgman is one to know in the world of true crime documentaries. In fact, she’s the unofficial queen of the genre. Let’s make the title official.

Skye is to true crime documentaries what Ken Burns is to films about boring old-timey topics. This isn’t to insult Mr. Burns. I like his work. There is, however, zero flash. Borgman, on the other hand, knows how to make a film sizzle.

You may not have realized it but if you watch true crime documentaries regularly, you’ve already come across one of Borgman’s gems. In 2022 alone, she directed three good ones to give herself a total of five since 2017.

The Skye Borgman collection of true crime documentaries

Abducted in Plain Sight – 2017

Dead Asleep – 2021

Girl in the Picture – 2022

I Just Killed My Dad – 2022

Sins of Our Mother – 2022

Without realizing it, I’ve seen them all in the last few months. Girl in the Picture is the one I remember the least. It was very similar to the premise in I Just Killed My Dad about a child abduction, ironically, in plain sight!

Borgman’s true crime documentaries all have a bit of a connection to another. She doesn’t make films about serial killers or mass murderers. Abducted in Plain Sight, Girl in the Picture, and I Just Killed My Dad are all stories of young children being abused. Sins of Our Mother covers multiple crimes with the ultimate one being the murders of two children.

Dead Asleep is the one I watched most recently and it’s the most different in terms of storyline. However, it follows Skye’s motif and fits in well enough. The crime committed in this film is admitted to immediately with the real twist coming later on with the reason as to why: sleepwalking.

I wasn’t very happy with a lot of the true crime documentaries from 2022. Skye Borgman was a standout with three good ones on top of the other two she had already released. What unique cases will we see from her in 2023? I smell an end of the year profile of the Idaho student murders once more information is released. She will do the victims justice as she always does.