Why Girl in the Picture has left Netflix viewers horrified

Its synopsis reads: “In this documentary, a woman found dying by a road leaves behind a son, a man claiming to be her husband – and a mystery that unfolds like a nightmare.”

The documentary, on Netflix as the Girl in the Picture, has disturbed viewers since its addition to the streaming service earlier this month and has quickly become one of the top 10.

The documentary is directed by Skye Borgman, who made the similarly disturbing Abducted in Plain Sight for Netflix. Girl in the Picture unravels the mystery behind the death of young woman and the kidnapping of her son.

It narrates the story of Tonya Hughes, a character in the documentary who was the victim of a hit and run in 1990. Except, Tonya wasn’t really called Tonya, and it was assumed that it wasn’t a hit and run.

Though It then turns out Tonya was called Sharon Marshall, and the man who said he was her husband was actually her father. But viewers are then taken by surprise again as she wasn’t really called Sharon, and the man is not really her father.

Viewers can only watch helplessly as the rug is pulled from beneath them, over and over, and the story becomes progressively more tense and harrowing.

Girl in the Picture has been praised by viewers, sending it the top of the streamer’s most-watched charts - Though many have been left feeling “frightened” by its story, with one viewer calling it one of the most “messed up crime documentaries” of all time.

“Girl in the Picture on Netflix is absolutely one of the most horrific, sickening, frightening things I’ve watched,” one person wrote, adding: “I’m at a loss for words.”