Netflix's Newest Miniseries is a Waste of Time, Fans Warn - Despite Landing Top 10

Summary

• On February 21, Netflix released Can I Tell You a Secret?
• The docu-series follows the stories of women who have been stalked and harassed online by Britain's most prolific stalker.
• Can I Tell You a Secret? immediately shot to the top of Netflix but failed to impress viewers.

It all started with the question 'Can I tell you a secret?' on social networks, then heavy breathing into the phone receiver, leading to ruined lives and mental health — sounds like the plot of a horror movie in the vein of The Ring, right? Except that sometimes real life turns out to be much more sinister because it is not some mystical higher power that intervenes, but very real people who want to harm their victims. In this case, mostly psychologically.

In 2022, Matthew Hardy, a 30-year-old resident of Northwich, Cheshire, was sentenced to eight years in prison and was given a definition that clearly feeds his ego to this day — the most prolific stalker. The harrowing experiences of the women who were subjected to Hardy's online harassment, and how he ended up in prison, are told in the new Netflix documentary series Can I Tell You a Secret?

The documentary, which addresses such a pressing issue in today's media space, immediately became the top-rated English-language series on Netflix. But despite its high ratings, Can I Tell You a Secret? turned out to be one of February's biggest disappointments. Let's find out why the show failed to impress viewers.

How Being Chronically Online Leads to Dire Consequences

From 2011 to 2022, Matthew Hardy managed to terrorize about a hundred women through the effective use of social media. It all started with the above question, which became the title of a new documentary series. Pretending to be someone else, usually a young woman, the stalker tried to manipulate his victims by giving them candid but false information from their personal lives, ranging from gossip to who their boyfriends were allegedly cheating on them with.

But things quickly escalated to much creepier and more drastic actions: Hardy hacked into the victims' social media pages, stole private photos, including explicit ones, created fake accounts, contacted the women's family and co-workers, and defamed them. In general, he did everything he could to make the lives of his unfortunate victims miserable. As a result, many women lost friends and loved ones, lost their careers, and some even developed chronic anxiety and clinical depression.

Hardy was arrested several times, but each time he was discharged. Nevertheless, he was sentenced to prison in 2022, serving one of the longest terms ever imposed for stalking.

Cheesy British Doc That Disappointed Viewers

The two-episode true crime miniseries was created by Liza Williams, who directed the 2023 documentary Hell Camp: Teen Nightmare. Can I Tell You a Secret, which debuted on February 21, immediately became one of the most-watched shows on Netflix. According to What's on Netflix, the series debuted at #2 in the global top 25 and in the top 10 in most countries around the world: #3 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K., #2 in Australia, and so on. As of February 27, the spooky tale continues to hold an impressive position and is still the number one game in the UK.

But unfortunately, high ratings do not equate to the quality of a particular movie or show. Despite an intriguing premise, the docuseries disappointed viewers. The central theme of the project seems to demand immediate ethical rethinking and implementation of ways to prevent online harassment.

Instead, the harrowing experiences of the women interviewed, who deserve support and justice, were undermined at the very end by a typical corporate statement from the police that will not change anything. In other words, despite its popularity, the series is not really worth watching.