Netflix Just Dropped Its Next Huge True Crime Hit

Netflix has quickly risen as a go-to destination for all things true crime, and the streamer's newest true crime documentary, Sophie: A Murder in West Cork, is proving to be its latest hit. Premiering on the platform on Wednesday, June 30, the three-part docuseries revisits the 1996 murder of French producer and film-maker Sophie Toscan du Plantier, who was brutally murdered at her holiday home near Schull, Ireland just two days before Christmas.

Directed by John Dower, the docuseries is the first project du Plantier's family has participated in and endorsed. The murder of du Plantier has long been considered one of Ireland's most famous murder cases. On the morning of Dec. 22, 1996, the 39-year-old mother of two, who had traveled to her picturesque two-story cottage outside Schull for a few days of research, was found beaten to death, her body still in pajamas, at the edge of the path leading up to her home. Per Netflix, her brutal murder "shocked the country" and "triggered one of the biggest murder investigations Ireland had ever seen and became a national obsession."

The investigation into du Plantier's murder only ever led to one suspect being named: Ian Bailey. A native of Manchester who reportedly moved to West Cork in 1991, Bailey was a freelance journalist who lived not far from du Plantier. He had covered her murder for several outlets, including Ireland's since-shuttered Sunday Tribune. After first being questioned by authorities just days after the murder, Bailey was first arrested in February 1997 and again in January 1998, according to Entertainment Tonight, but he was not charged in connection to the crime in Ireland. In May 2019, however, Bailey was sentenced to 25 years in prison after a three-judge panel at the Paris Criminal Court convicted him of murder in absentia, and while he was in Dublin in December 2019, he was later released and remains free.

Sophie: A Murder in West Cork charts the circumstances of du Plantier's killing, "unraveling the extraordinary story from its beginning, 24 years ago to the present day." Featuring to du Plantier's family, the docuseries brings "together, for the first time, the views of her family with Ian Bailey, the man at the centre of the investigation."

Having only been available for streaming for a day, the docuseries has already generated plenty of discussion. The Irish Times said the series "makes for gripping viewing, full of twists and turns," applauding the director for bringing "the victim to life as a woman full of passion, beloved by her family and besotted by life itself. The director makes sure that this is her story and that everyone else is merely a supporting character – surely as it should be." Sophie: A Murder in West Cork is currently available for streaming on Netflix.