This new true crime documentary series on Netflix has cracked the site’s top 10 most-watched show list — and for good reason.
The TikTok Killer tells the chilling story of Esther Estepa, a 42-year-old solo traveler who met a content creator named on her trip to Spain, then mysteriously disappeared.
The two-part docuseries plays on fears of the worst-case scenario happening while traveling alone and the worst-case scenario of meeting someone online.
The TikTok Killer is popular with Netflix subscribers right now, but is it worth streaming?
Is ‘The TikTok Killer’ Based on a True Story? And Is It Worth Watching?
Yes, The TikTok Killer is based on the true story of Esther Estepa. Esther was a single woman traveling in Spain who had the misfortune of befriending a man named José “Dynamite” Jurado Montilla, a TikTok content creator whose social media videos ultimately led to his arrest for Esther’s disappearance. Before that, the two had met at the lobby of Esther’s hotel in Alicante. On the morning of August 23, 2023, the two went out for a hike that ended in Montilla calling paramedics for Esther. Though she was discharged from the hospital the following day, her family began receiving cryptic messages from her on WhatsApp, stating that she was starting a new life in Buenos Aires. Was it really Esther sending those messages?
Then, in 2024, Esther’s remains were found, and the evidence was successfully linked to Montilla, who is currently awaiting trial. The TikTok Killer traces Montilla’s past crimes for which he served 28 years in prison, as well as Esther’s family’s search for their daughter using the digital footprint left behind by hers and Montilla’s social media accounts. The docuseries is a compelling look at how social media is both a deceptive mask and a crucial investigative tool.
The Two-Part Series Is Efficient, Effective and Empathetic
Sometimes, true crime stories are way too drawn out, chronicled over the course of four or six episodes and retreading too much ground. Instead, The TikTok Killer keeps things tight at only two episodes, which allows for the story to be told in a far more efficient way, which is also more affecting to the viewer as a result. The series is incredibly straightforward and offers no wasted time, but it also allows Esther’s family to speak for themselves as people who were deeply involved in the investigative process of finding their missing daughter. In the end, you learn that they uncovered information about Montilla’s past that the police overlooked.
It was indeed the family’s steadfast determination to seek justice that was a huge part of why Montilla was arrested. This is something that happens all too often when it comes to law enforcement incompetence with these kinds of cases — especially when it comes to finding missing women. Thankfully, The TikTok killer not only prioritizes the voices of Esther’s family and their determination, but it also paints a vivid portrait of who she was when she was alive as an active traveler and adventurer.
It Creates Real “Stranger Danger” About Social Media
We all know that people can create false personas very easily on the internet, but the increased proliferation of social media in our daily lives has arguably further broken down the barriers we once placed when it came to creating connections on there. We do everything online, from making friends to dating to finding jobs and networking. Thus, we have become too accustomed to taking people’s social media presences at face value, since so much of our lives are on social media now to begin with. This is probably part of what led Esther to befriend Montilla, a man who was once sentenced to 123 years in prison, serving only 28, for the murders of four people.
Montilla was able to create a friendly facade on social media that duped Esther into believing he was a safe person to be around (although he still denies that he was involved in her death). The irony is that it was his social media activity and thorough documentation of his time and relationship with Esther to his 6,000 followers that ended up being his undoing. After his oversharing allowed authorities to connect him to other disappearances in the same area, they had an entire archive of evidence of their suspect’s own creation. The TikTok Killer will make you think twice about who you start chatting with online.
Stream The TikTok Killer now on Netflix.
