While The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker is the latest true crime documentary to hit Netflix, and is currently trending, many viewers have posted about being upset over it, and many of them have the same problem. While the documentary focuses on Kai Lawrence's story, and the downward spiral that followed the viral moment, what viewers have pointed out is they think it was exploiting someone with a serious mental illness, which many have made clear they are not OK with.
The documentary tells the story of a man named Kai who went viral after he stopped an attacker after a car wreck by hitting him over the head with a hatchet. The documentary tells the story of The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker, and how intensely viral his story went, and the events that followed which eventually led to Kai being arrested.
Over the course of the 85-minute documentary, reporters, TV producers and family members tell the story of Kai’s story going viral, then in the second half it switches gears and goes into the story about the murder of Joseph Galfy. The murder happened three months after Kai went viral, and the internet sensation was arrested for it.
TJ Detwieler posted about the show “not talking enough” about Kai probably dealing with mental illness, and how upset they were about Netflix using the story. They tweeted:
Watching Kai the Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker doc on Netflix and they’re not talking enough about how they clearly saw he had mental issues from the beginning but wanted to leech off him going viralJanuary 10, 2023
They then responded to a comment on the tweet, explaining they didn’t appreciate how the documentary was “quick to try and capitalize when it was clear from jump he didn’t want fame and was unstable.”
Another viewer had a similar opinion, Ingrid Holme tweeted about The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker being “exploitative,” they wrote:
Watching 'The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker' really weird that all the people chatting on camera have no perception of how exploitative they were/are.January 10, 2023
New Year’s Steve was also troubled by the documentary, noting that Kai had violently broken up a fight and then went viral because of his chill and nice interview he had with the journalists afterward. They wrote:
Watching that Netflix Documentary: Kai The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker and the first thing that shocked me was how TV execs wanted to exploit the fuck out of a seriously mentally ill person who *checks notes* bludgeoned someone with a hatchet but went viral cos he’s “nice” pic.twitter.com/rw6ntHQfnRJanuary 10, 2023
The documentary shows many people who tried to work with Kai. They explained moments when he was hard to work with, or did unexpected things, like peeing on The Jimmy Kimmel Live! outside before walking into the building for an interview. This led to the story about the experience of Kai being on this talk show, which included the police showing up to speak with the viral star because he was the key witness in an attempted murder case.
Many have noted their frustration about the documentary because of how Kai was represented in it. Chenoa noted they were “enraged” because The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker was “brutally exploitative” and didn’t properly address trauma and mental health.
Just watched that hatchet wielding hitchhiker documentary on Netflix and I am ENRAGED. Showcasing brutally exploitative media execs, zero trauma or mental health awareness in the actual filmmaking, and interviewing his mother letting her try to justify her abuse? Come on. I can’tJanuary 11, 2023
The documentary goes into detail about Kai’s past, and shows old interviews where he describes growing up being abused by his parents, and a time he was raped. They also discussed how Kai’s attitude could change quickly, and Jeremy McGillivary Wolfe, Kai’s cousin, said he believed Kai had “mental issues.” The documentary also shows a tape of Kai talking about the murder he was arrested for, explaining that he was raped.
Pam Miller was also among the viewers who agreed that this documentary exploits Kai. They wrote:
Just watched Kai the Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker and now I’m just sad. He was failed by so many, but the exploitation of this young man was egregious. I knew so many people like him in my 20s that were in need of mental health services and now they’re wasting away in prisonJanuary 10, 2023
Like this tweet, many others noted that the latest documentary to come to Netflix tells the story of and points out a problem that many have faced, which is lots of people don’t have access to mental health services.
It’s clear that many people with a Netflix subscription who watched this documentary on the 2023 movie schedule were not impressed with how Kai’s story was told, and would not consider it one of the best true crime documentaries.
