Netflix’s Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker Documentary Is Popular, But Many Viewers Are Upset About The Same Issue

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: 

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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: 

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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: 

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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. 

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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: 

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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

Riley Utley
Weekend Editor

Riley Utley is the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. She has written for national publications as well as daily and alt-weekly newspapers in Spokane, Washington, Syracuse, New York and Charleston, South Carolina. She graduated with her master’s degree in arts journalism and communications from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University. Since joining the CB team she has covered numerous TV shows and movies -- including her personal favorite shows Ted Lasso and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. She also has followed and consistently written about everything from Taylor Swift to Fire Country, and she's enjoyed every second of it.