Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare – Review | Netflix

SWEET BOBBY: MY CATFISH NIGHTMARE on Netflix is a true crime documentary about an extreme case of catfishing from the UK. Of course, if you’ve watched the original Catfish movie or the MTV series you won’t be too surprised. Read our full Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare review here!

SWEET BOBBY: MY CATFISH NIGHTMARE is a new Netflix documentary from the UK. It’s a true crime documentary though the crime is difficult to get recognized as it has to do with catfishing. In this case, the scheme went on for nearly a decade before the truth came out.

The runtime is just 1 hour and 22 minutes, so we have many years of messages and escalation to cover in a relatively short time. It works well, but I think this will be most fascinating to people who haven’t watched as many catfishing stories as I have.

Continue reading our Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare review below. Find it on Netflix from October 16, 2024.

The story of Sweet Bobby

This new Netflix documentary chronicles a 9-nine-long online deception more commonly known as “catfishing” and this is quite an elaborate example. Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare is, at the surface, an example of modern courtship which often starts online.

In many countries, online dating (or getting to know someone via a forum or through gaming) is the number 1 place to meet your future spouse. Netflix even has another true crime documentary out titled The Tinder Swindler about the very same subject.

For Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare, we meet Kirat Assi as she meets a man named Bobby on Facebook. At first, they are friends and know of each other through their shared Sikh community. I won’t give any more details as catfish connoisseurs will start guessing the outcome.

It all began in 2009 when the pair developed a friendship that ended in a romantic relationship. A very serious one. However, before they get that far, we have to go through a lot of drama. Including a near-fatal shooting, witness protection, marriage, divorce, and much more.

We need Kamie and her red flags

If you watch the MTV show Catfish – or the movie that came before it in 2010 – you will find everything very familiar. In fact, there’s a good chance you’ll even guess how it all ends. Well, parts of the ending, anyway.

I kept wishing the documentary filmmaker would ask a few questions as this story was told. Very much like Kamie Crawford does in the MTV show Catfish. Sometimes she doesn’t even say anything but simply waves her actual red flags.

Or even like the director of the new HBO documentary I’m Not a Monster: The Lois Riess Murders did. When someone is allowed to speak without any probing questions, it leaves us viewers puzzled.

I never want to victim-blame, so I will do my best to avoid doing so. Rather, I want to state that it can often help us viewers to understand the how and why of a situation that sounds crazy. Maybe I’ve just watched too many episodes of Catfish to fully understand why someone doesn’t pick up on some of the more extreme red flags in a situation.

Watch Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare on Netflix

Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare is directed by Lyttanya Shannon (Subnormal: A British Scandal), and was executive produced by Rebecca North (American Nightmare), and produced by Kiran Sira (Murder, Mystery and My Family).

Originally, Sweet Bobby was a popular Tortoise podcast about Assi’s year-long ordeal. It was released in 2021 and attracted thousands of listeners. Now it will reach a worldwide audience as a Netflix documentary. Obviously, on Netflix, we also get screenshots and photos to help highlight what Assi went through.

It comes from the producer Raw who also created the earlier mentioned The Tinder Swindler. If you haven’t watched the original Catfish movie from 2010, I urge you to watch it ASAP. In the meantime, check out the story of Sweet Bobby which is also very elaborate!

Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare is out on Netflix from October 16, 2024.