THE PUPPET MASTER: Hunting the Ultimate Conman on Netflix is a new true-crime documentary series. It’s extremely well made with only relevant interviews and information. Also, this is downright scary. Read our full The Puppet Master series review here!
THE PUPPET MASTER: Hunting the Ultimate Conman is a new Netflix docu-series. With just 3 episodes, this true-crime series tells the story of a conman pretending to be a British spy. The episodes are between 30 minutes to just under one hour long. And you will definitely want to binge-watch this one.
It’s extremely well-made with only relevant interviews and information. Also, this is downright scary. Read our full The Puppet Master series review here!
One of the best true-crime series on Netflix
I watch just about every single new true-crime documentary released on Netflix. Both the documentary films and docu-series. Most are really well-made, but still, they do range in overall quality.
Some are interesting but have some irritating quirks like interviewing subjects in strange settings in Monsters Inside: The 24 Faces of Billy Milligan. Others are simply genius for using only archive police and press footage in American Murder: The Family Next Door.
And then there are the absolutely brilliant ones that just follow the leads while also going back and forth across timelines to show connections. The Puppet Master belongs in that latter amazing category. Just as Don’t F*ck with Cats did.
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Yes, this is one of the best docu-series I’ve watched in quite a while. It leads you through the insanely creepy actions of a psychotic conman. It’s scary and enraging for various reasons. Also, it shows what humans can endure and that love is stronger than most dares believe.
The story of Robert Hendy-Freegard
From the very beginning of The Puppet Master: Hunting the Ultimate Conman, you might not think this will be the wild story it becomes. You might also think, that this conman only preys on women. Well, you’ve got a few surprises in store.
Sure, he (Robert Hendy-Freegard) does prey on women quite a lot. More than anything, however, he is desperate for the power and control he can gain. From anyone! Also, he is always after money. So, when the story begins in 2020, where two siblings talk about their missing mother, you have no idea where this Netflix docu-series is heading.
Then we go back to 1993, where “Rob” first introduces himself as an MI5 spy and uses the very active IRA terrorism activity to convince a young man to help him. For Queen and country and all that. Then he convinces this young man to bring two young women into the mix. The four of them end up being on the run for a decade.
“On the run from what?!” you might say. Well, whatever Robert Freegard tells them. He is in full control and brainwashes them completely. It’s as fascinating as it is scary. However, for anyone who has ever watched Catfish, it’s interesting that he has been using the same tactics of an online “catfish” in the real-life for almost 30 years.
This is all from the beginning of episode 1, so I’m just setting the stage here!
Do not miss The Puppet Master on Netflix now!
The Puppet Master on Netflix was directed by Sam Benstead and Gareth Johnson. Let me just say that this is how you tell a story. I was absolutely enthralled from beginning to end. Some of the filmmakers behind the 2012 The Imposter documentary also took part in creating this series.
Definitely check out The Imposter as well. It’s absolutely breathtaking for many crazy reasons!
The three episodes of The Puppet Master: Hunting the Ultimate Conman do appear to just be the beginning. Sure, the grotesque and terrible case that began in 1993 (along with a few others since then) has been settled in court. Well, sort of. You’ll see!
However, he is still very much an active conman. Remember those siblings trying to find their missing mother. She’s simply the latest victim. Hopefully, that means we’ll get a season 2 of The Puppet Master with the very latest as that case continues to evolve.
Over the years, Robert Freegard (later Robert Hendy-Freegard) also goes by the names David Hendy and David Clifton. These aliases are even more proof of his grotesque actions than you can imagine by just reading them here. Again, you’ll see why! Just make sure you don’t miss out on this new Netflix true-crime addition.
The Puppet Master: Hunting the Ultimate Conman is out on Netflix from January 18, 2022.
Plot
The jaw-dropping story of one of the world’s most audacious conmen. Over the course of a decade, Robert Freegard controlled, conned and fleeced at least seven women and one man, stealing close to a million pounds. His traumatised victims were led to believe they were accomplices in highly elaborate secret service operations and that their families were in grave danger if they did not obey. Freegard exploited, abused and controlled them with extreme cruelty, confident his victims were too paralysed by fear to escape. Now, in an incredible twist, the story reaches into the present day, with a family who fear for their mother’s safety.
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