User reviews

In the 90's, South Africa, which has the 2nd highest murder rate in the world. Many, many woman are found murdered, raped, tortured and mutilated in sugar cane fields. Besides other horrific crimes involving children and citizens just hanging at the pub.

Along comes real life profiler, Mickey Pistoris. The underfunded and under staffed police stations, look to her as men in the 90's would look at a woman who has ideas. Not welcome...at first.

This is an extremely well acted 11 episode show.

It is disheartening to see these crimes, most of which are serial or mass murders.

The scenery and film stock totally is the 90's.

As a long-time fan of UK crime dramas, Scandi noir, Korean revenge films and series, this one piqued my attention. I'm nearly done with it and it's only been a couple days, so that's a good sign.

The series opens with a bit of a reference to Cracker (UK), and throughout there are touches of UK forensic psychology dramas like Wire in the Blood and Touch of Evil, as well as Prime Suspect for the resistance local police departments put up to psychological profiling and detective work.

The stories are all true. Most are just one episode, which is unfortunate insofar as there's less of the juicy build we are accustomed to with classic crime series. There's also a bit of rotation amongst the actors, as the crimes occur in different places.

These are not crimes that we get to try to solve - it's not a puzzle crime mystery series.

But if you've ever wondered if ScandiNoir can be done in a bright and sunny location, the answer would be yes.

Charlotte Hope does a fantastic job. Not unlike Holly Grainger's step up from her partner role in CB Strike to lead in The Capture (also good!).

I like this show, it was better than I thought it would be, but it's hard to believe the science part in all of the storytelling. I know it's based on actual events, but I just can't imagine in 1994 she's allowed to walk right up to bodies smoking cigarettes with no gloves on. Not to mention, we get it, she smokes, but it doesn't need to be a thing every 5 minutes of every episode. BY the end of the season, they've literally wasted a half episode worth of time focussing on her smoking. She's also constantly handling evidence and moving in crime scenes smoking. It just doesn't make any sense, and I can't believe that's how the handled crime scenes in the mid to late 90s in South Africa. But she's good, the cast is solid, the stories are compelling, its beautifully shot, so it was a solid watch.

An excellent watch and. Charlotte Hope was outstanding in her role of Micki Pretorius. The rest of the team was average, perhaps they performed their roles well because they were just like how the police were in the 90's in South Africa. The tint used in the filming befitted the 90's very well too.

With the personal problems which Micki developed because of the type of work as a profiler, the end of the mini series leaves a lot of gaps. But perhaps the producers did this on purpose to entice viewers to demand a continuation of this series. There are many more true stories which can be told, specifically about her life. But then again her role was probably fictitious in making this series.

As a South African it always surprises me how much violent crime exists in South Africa and barely makes the news because in order to live and function in a hostile environment you don't want to be reminded just how bad it really is. I was surprised to learn of how many serial killers existed in South Africa without hearing about it in the news. The reality is violent crime in South Africa is some of the worst statistically speaking in the world. Also SA has the highest rape count in the world. This series is brilliantly done,the cinimatography the writing and the acting was impressive! 10/10 for me!

A lot of firsts in this series, and the message comes across very strongly. Profilers were few and far between in the nineties even in the US let alone in South Africa. Micki Pistorius is a pioneer in the field, so much so that she gets the attention of Robert Ressler, who defined the term, serial killer.

The series takes the viewer on a journey of the first South African profile as she goes about solving cases of many serial killers. All are real cases. I never knew there were so many serial killers operating in South Africa.

It's well made and a little concerning but well worth watching. I recommend it.

11 episodes, 11 cases, 11 serial killers, exactly zero are memorable. We get endless scenes of profiler Micki Pistorius lighting cigarette after cigarette, closeups of her face looking blank (but she's thinking DEEP and TORTURED thoughts, we're meant to believe), and then when she talks, it's not exactly the stuff of genius. This show needed a lot more of the science of profiling.

And please explain how her alleged skills actually CAUGHT anyone? Then, after a killer is caught, she's supposed to swoop in and save the day by coaxing a confession out of him - with basically "tell me about your childhood." That's apparently all it takes for a killer to suddenly confess? PUH-LEEZE.

The.content of the episodes was interesting; and all well acted. Some early episodes seemed forced, as if the resolution of the crime came too easily; but it is a tv episode, not a documentary. The main character became too intense and basically unlikable; yet none of her colleagues intervened. Some of the supporting actors, Vaughn Lucas, and the actor who played Mark, softened her and added dimension, but essentially she was becoming ego maniacal believing only she could solve the case. I found this aspect excellently acted. In reality this aspect would be a huge problem for co-workers.

The smoking was ridiculous. It was distracting and it appeared to be a police force of chain smokers.

I came across this series quite by accident & binge watched it. The cases were all different, very realistic & found the profiling fascinating. The main actress did an exceptional job portraying someone who was truly passionate about her line of work. The human aspect was compelling. The chain smoking was a little off putting, and as an ex-smoker I found it distracting, but I assume it was authentic, so I put up with it! It was interesting to see how the cases took over the profiler's life. That was sad, but I understand it. When you find work you're passionate about it can take over your life, at your own expense. I've been there! I'm on episode 10 & our profiler is really loosing it. I hope the last episode (the next one) leaves us with some sort of closure, but I'm preparing myself for the worst in case that doesn't happen. I've enjoyed the stores, dark as they are! Very realistic!

The first episode was very good. I remembered that case as it was splashed all over the news and serial killers were still something not really heard of then. No-one quite believed it at first - apparently such a well liked and respected teacher. Just goes to show, never judge a book by its cover. I thought the episode was well acted and gripping.

Things sort of dropped off thereafter as she steadily became more unlikeable. I have no idea what she is like in real life, but god she must have been hard work, even with making allowances for the exceptionally horrendous circumstances she had to work in.

I know a lot of people smoked back in the day, but jeez she was like a walking coffin.

The settings were very authentic though and the supporting actors were good.

Charlotte Hope is amazing in her role as the first profiler of serial killers in Africa in the 1990s. Everything in this mini series appears to display authenticity to these horrorable killings. How this woman through her high intelligence, organization and being able to put herself in the minds of the killers. She had to prove herself at every police station that she could in fact lead them to catch these killers. Ofcourse, what she does in emerging herself in the minds of these killers took a great toll but she kept going till the killers were caught.

You feel you are right there with her and experience the horror of the killings and seeing what it takes to be able to understand the killer as a human being and what led them to do the killings.

The show focuses too much on the personal struggle of the chain smoking main character and not enough on the crimes or profiles. The production quality reminded me of a low budget Indy project. The main character made what appears to be super accurate profiles based on some basic psychological theories (mostly psychosexual). It would have been much nicer to have the series be more realistic and intellectual rather than the cliff notes of each case. The show leans into the main character's ability to sypathize and empathize with the killers but does little to demonstrate how she empathizes with the destroyed communities. All and all it was an unrewarding snooze.

I had no idea what this was when I started the show. Despite part of this being hard to watch - it's very well done. This is the true story of horrific crimes, but I give the series credit for showing the crimes in a respectful way. There is not much gratuitous violence - most of what we see of the crimes comes from the profiler and her reactions to them. We also see what happens to a person when they are exposed to so much violence. Nobody can see terrible things every day without consequences.

The landscape of South Africa looks incredible, and it's a stark contrast to the crimes committed. The acting is great - Charlotte Hope is amazing. The direction is good. It's a bit slow, but appropriate for its subject matter. You can tell it's based in the 90s - they caught that vibe perfectly.

Give it a watch - it's a bit sad, but a very good series.

So well written, Directed, produced and the actors, really nailed it. A sad way to see South Africa, a country I have longed to visit.

The ugliness of human beings is hard to witness. What I have learned in the past, and what this show reinforces, is that HOW a person is treated, during their formative years, directly determines what kind of human they will become. Nurture trumps Nature nearly all the time.

Reduce unwanted pregnancies, encourage people to form a 'family' before having kids, support neighborhoods and remove by any means necessary all gangs, and we will dramatically reduce violent crimes.

On another note, I avoid American movies because most are violent, overly sexualized and lately are nearly always pushing a false/fake political narrative vs just telling a story.

Another cookie cutter series about the "amazing skills" of a serial killer profiler. Studies have shown that their skills rarely lead to the killer, and that they usually get caught from their own mistakes. The actress playing Pistorius blathers out the usual psychobabble about motivation and character, but shows us instead her skills as an interrogator, skills that most good Detectives would have. Serial killers continue to attract audiences and profilers and why are usually there on the show to "track them down." What is missing here is "evidence." No DNA, no witnesses, but plenty of confessions, usually taken back. No court room drama. Why do some get out in a few years and many murders go unproven but attributed?

The profiler is the focus, not the killer!

Catch Me a Killer: in the 1990's multiple serial killers were at work in South Africa, there were no profilers, Micki Pistorius (Charlotte Hope), a forensic psychologist was recruited to South African Police Service (SAPS) in 1994, where she founded and headed the Investigative Psychology Unit (IPU) as chief investigative psychologist. She was also given the rank of Captain (Superintendent) as not all police chiefs would be happy to take advice from a psychologist. This series is based on her memoir Catch Me a Killer (2000), eleven episodes cover her story from her early days through to her setting up training programmes for profilers. She eventually trained 100 police officers as profilers. She didn't just sit in an office drawing up profiles, she went into the field, hunting and confronting those whom she would never see a monsters. Her belief was that she had to see the human they had once been if she was to make a connection. She came face to face with these killers and once was shot and wounded when a serial killer set up an ambush. Catch Me a Killer is no dry docu-drama it is more akin to Criminal Minds. Some really disturbing cases and graphic portrayals of violence and death, not something for the squeamish or faint of heart. Jessica Ruston was the Showrunner, wrote 7 of the screenplays and contributed to all 11 episodes. On Alibi Channel. 8/10.

Just finished watching this 10 episode missed opportunity, had plenty of promise, which I was looking forward to having seen it advertised, but a ham acted lead and what seemed to be very average amateur dramatics project with a budget, was squandered. Storylines seem to be disjointed and stretched to the nth degree, the finale of each case almost had the "would have got away with it if it wasn't for those pesky kids!" moment. I just watched it to see something different of South Africa apart from wildlife or shantytowns. Unfortunately it was the settings that got my two stars, acting was sadly lacking.

Such a piece of nonsense. Poor attempt at recreating Mindhunters - There are a million better series dealing with this topic and this one belongs to gabage bin of cinematic failures.the lead Actress is so out of place in every single shot. Entire story telling seems like a work of a naive writer . I wish i had saved 10 hours of my life .... ...........save your time and avoid it. All the plots are based on real life crimes but the episodes are so repetitive(dead bodies with worm, lead actress hallucinating - she is a disaster!). Not a single episode of series could redeem the promise of the real life stories.