The Puppet Master: Hunting the Ultimate Conman

Robert Freegard may well and truly be one of the greatest conmen ever to walk the face of Earth. The series unfurls in a non-linear fashion, making it a true-blue thriller where the makers cleverly leave clues for the audiences to connect the dots. Moreover, all the interviews are spot-on. And the RIGHT set of people is given all the weightage, i.e., the victims and their families. This docu-series runs roughly for 2 hours, taking us through details of Freegard's well-known cons while subtly telling us that the list of victims is a lot larger than we can imagine.

Another feather in the cap for Netflix in their true-crime section, The Puppet Master, is fantastically shot, crisply compiled, and stays rooted to its emotional core even when it thrills and leaves us frequently bewildered.

P. S - Would you believe me if I say that there are genuine nail-biter moments? That's right. You wouldn't want to press the pause button! I also hope his latest victim realizes what she's going through and acts upon it sooner than later.

The most amazing part of this whole thing is the master manipulations this one man is able to pull off with so many different people. The doc does a good job of interviewing relevant people and keeping multiple timelines going on at the same time. Unfortunately not all stories are resolved, but that's life.

A number of reviews have suggested this documentary is "suspect" without explaining why. Probably because this is indeed an accurate real-life account that so beggars belief it almost sounds UNreal.

In my opinion the makers of this documentary have created a 2-hour masterpiece of fascinating and memorable viewing. At times I literally gasped in shock, in surprise, in genuine incredulity that such downright evil people actually do exist and that seemingly intelligent victims could be convinced into such extreme situations.

But the documentary treats all the people involved - victims, their siblings, their parents - with the lightest of touches. There's no third party narrative, every word comes from someone affected by this despicable man or from the security forces who finally caught him. It's perfectly paced, and while the timeline is somewhat jumpy it does add dramatic effect because the viewer becomes involved in the puzzle and you yourself start to piece together the story.

I won't say I enjoyed this, because that sounds.. almost trite. I'm hugely glad I did watch it, is a more true statement. I can't remember feeling such growing affinity and sympathy for true-life victims who have had the courage, the fortitude to bare their souls and re-live YEARS of horrendous abuse and utter helplessness to the rest of the world, and for their families who suffered such heartache yet never gave up. Nor can I recall feeling such antipathy, such despisal for Robert Hendy-Freegard, this arrogant, contemptible sociopath who remains at large in the world.

Delicately and empathetically executed, properly-paced, and will leave you with mixed feelings. Completely worth two hours of your time.

The series does a great job of showing the damage a conman does by interviewing the relatives of the women he has taken away from them. It is heartbreaking to hear children talk about being abandoned by their mother, and to hear a dad say, "Then I knew it was about the money," (I would have given anything to have Peter Smith for my dad.)

That said, when the conman's preposterous lies are revealed, it's really hard to see how those women could have been that naive. Or, maybe, a better way to say this is that it's hard to understand how a conman knows how to find the women when they are both deeply vulnerable and have money. A conman is a psychopath. A conman who gets a Netflix series is a conman who is a psychopath with good hunting skills.

Always do a background check, and never lend money, folks.

The series isn't perfect, but it's short, always remembers the victims and won't waste your time,

How on Earth can one man have such an influence over people, and how can people allow themselves to be taken over by someone, this revealing three part series explores the concepts.

Perhaps a little guilty of being over long, but there is a fascinating, but very sad story here. Part one is a little drawn out, but stick with it, as the other two installments are very satisfying.

Yes it's focused on one man's crimes, but it's so much more than that, it's a real exploration of human nature, the good and bad sides.

One thing you'll come away with, is a certainty that monsters aren't just in fairy stories, they are real, and two of them are explored in this series.

Well produced, well made, it's definitely a crime that'll have you bemused at how he got away with it for so long. Heaven knows what is brewing next for some poor unfortunate. I'd love to know what it was that they saw in him.

It's sad, surprising, entertaining, well worth your time, 8/10.