Netflix's latest true-crime documentary, Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story, delivers a profoundly unsettling look at a case of extreme child abuse rooted in religious manipulation. The film, directed by genre specialist Skye Borgman, chronicles the crimes of Utah life coach Jodi Hildebrandt and family vlogger Ruby Franke, leaving viewers to question the ethics of consuming such grim material.
The Case of Control and Conviction
The documentary details the events of August 2023, when a 12-year-old boy, malnourished and injured, appeared at a stranger's door in Utah. Police, led by Detective Jessica Bate, discovered he had escaped from the nearby home of Jodi Hildebrandt. A subsequent search revealed his sister, similarly starved and with a shaved head, confined in a closet. Investigators found ropes, handcuffs, and other evidence supporting the boy's account of severe abuse and torture.
Hildebrandt, a life coach operating within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) community, and Ruby Franke, a popular family influencer, were subsequently charged. County Attorney Eric Clarke built the case, explaining how Franke, under Hildebrandt's sway, participated in the abuse of her own children, allegedly believing they were acting 'for Christ'.
Skye Borgman's True-Crime Signature
The film is the latest from director Skye Borgman, known for sober, unsensationalised documentaries like Abducted in Plain Sight (2017) and The Girl in the Picture (2022). Evil Influencer follows her signature style, weaving measured testimonies from police, prosecutors, and former clients with factual timelines. Former clients describe how Hildebrandt, on an LDS bishops' approved list, wielded immense power, inducing shame about sexuality, breaking up marriages, and extracting significant fees.
A Genre's Grubby Impulses
While the film lays out the appalling, simple narrative of abuse 'in the name of God', it struggles to fully transcend the voyeuristic pitfalls of its genre. It touches on how rigorous religious training can create susceptibility to extremist control, a point noted by LDS member Eric Clarke, but doesn't explore this with enough depth. The review suggests a collective new year's resolution to perhaps avoid making or watching content this grim, arguing that while the story is terrifying, the experience feels 'supremely grubby'.
Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story is streaming on Netflix now, presenting a chilling story that forces a confrontation with the darkest capabilities of human influence, and the moral complexities of the true-crime format itself.
