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Signs of a Psychopath (2020)

User reviews

Signs of a Psychopath

23 reviews
8/10

a little dab'll do ya

Although I watched every episode, one season would have been enough to tell me all I needed to know: suss out the psychopaths and stay out of reach. These killers put to shame all the videos I have watched on narcissism. What I found surreal was the way someone who had just killed a whole family or a pregnant girlfriend could shrug their shoulders and laugh, then try to wriggle out of the charges. I subtracted 2 stars from a possible 10 because a couple of the female experts seemed not to have watched the actual interviews of the killers and were just talking off the tops of their heads. Instead of addressing individual psychopathy they would just toss off the exact same "observations" each episode -- "this guy is devoid of emotion" or "this person treats people like objects" or "they are trying to hint at an insanity defense." I would have liked more in-depth analysis of particular cases. It was too facile and repetitive in many instances. I started feeling sorry for the cops who have to put up with these murderous, lazy, self-indulgent criminals every day who sit there and lie.
  • frieda-92366
  • Jun 23, 2024
  • Permalink
8/10

Very insightful

What helps this show stand out from all of the other true crime shows out there is the honest sometimes shocking "diagnosis" the doctors give us as the crimes of the psychopath unfold. The show portrays the crimes of a psychopath while it cuts to various doctors who explain the reasoning behind the act. While the doctors may give insight into the crime there's really no understanding them. After all, can anyone, other than another psychopath, understand the reasoning behind the crimes of the psychopath? But the doctors really give that insight in terms that we all can understand. The only negative I can think of is that they sometimes don't go deep enough into some of the criminals portrayed. I'd love to see an hour long episode on some of the criminals.
  • rnicks-00552
  • Jun 6, 2021
  • Permalink
7/10

A Chilling Dive into the Minds of True Psychopaths

This show is nothing short of captivating - not because it glamorizes crime, but because it offers a raw, unfiltered look into the minds of individuals who defy the boundaries of normal human emotion. It doesn't just focus on "criminals" in the traditional sense, but instead zeroes in on true psychopaths - people whose actions and psychology challenge our understanding of morality, empathy, and motive.

What makes this series stand out is the expert commentary from seasoned psychologists and behavioral analysts. Their insights add a powerful layer of depth, helping the viewer grasp the subtle (and sometimes chilling) nuances behind these individuals' behaviors, expressions, and manipulative tactics. You're not just watching a documentary - you're being educated in the complex science of the human psyche.

The interrogation footage is by far the most gripping aspect of the show. Watching these people interact with law enforcement in real time - the lies, the deflections, the moments they slip up - is both unsettling and fascinating. It reveals how calculated and, at times, terrifyingly calm some of these individuals can be. The way they speak, the micro-expressions on their faces, even their body language - every second feels like a lesson in psychology and criminal behavior.

If you're someone who's intrigued by forensic psychology, criminal profiling, or just love a show that challenges your thinking and keeps you hooked from start to finish, this is an absolute must-watch. It's thought-provoking, intense, and disturbingly unforgettable.
  • imdbfan-411348
  • Aug 6, 2025
  • Permalink
10/10

I *love* this show!

Most Murder Shows (what I call true crime shows) are superficially shallow in terms of the people involved, victims and perpetrators. This show gets a little deeper into the mind, psychology, behaviors, and motivations of psychopaths. I feel that after watching most if not all of the episodes, I could spot a psychopath a mile away. And yes, I've come across a few. Ask me about the 8 year old psychopathic kid I came across, who almost caused my son to quit hockey. I felt bad for the parents, who actually seemed like pretty good people. They just had a kid who was evil to his core. Fun fact about psychopaths: they make good CEOs. No empathy, they just care about the company making money for the shareholders. No empathy, let's layoff another few hundred or few thousand employees ...
  • kevinbrown-2
  • Mar 7, 2023
  • Permalink
10/10

FASCINATINGLY CREEPY

This insightful, fascinating series gives you an insight into psychopathic behaviour. It makes for some uncomfortable viewing, especially when watching a psychopath explain his behavior like he's just been taking a stroll. It's exceptionally creepy, but definitely compulsive viewing. Experts talk you through what kind of behaviors psychopaths can display, which I find extremely helpful. At the start of the series you're asked 'would you see the signs'? The point is, psychopaths adapt and blend in, adjust their behavior to suit their needs - so that question is chilling. Each episode focuses on a different psychopath - be warned, some of the details are not for the faint of heart, as psychopaths have no empathy, relishing reliving their crimes to an extraordinary level.
  • kazzalou-05741
  • Feb 19, 2023
  • Permalink
6/10

be careful who you suspect after watching this

  • howboutthisone_huh
  • Aug 18, 2021
  • Permalink
10/10

My favorite true crime, it is shocking documentary

I reserve a 10-star rating for shows that are worth rewatching, and 'Signs of a Psychopath' earns this distinction. Having viewed the seasons multiple times, I find that each viewing reveals new layers, akin to the way fine wine matures with time. In my eyes, it's a classic.

The highlight of the series is undoubtedly the psychologists' analyses. Over time, I've transitioned from a passive viewer to an active one, eagerly anticipating the experts' insights to enhance my own understanding.

The series delves into some of the most notorious crimes, presenting a rich tapestry of recordings, photos, and interviews ripe for analysis. It's a shocking documentary, and some moments can make us cry even without an emotional soundtrack. There are some that criminals describe everything as a dark humor, which we could only imagine finding in films, beyond reality.

I fervently wish for the series to continue indefinitely, perhaps even venturing into the annals of ancient history for its analytical prowess.
  • andreimdb38
  • Mar 17, 2024
  • Permalink
6/10

Not bad.

A little drawn out at times but fairly informative. Not too sure about those so called experts. I have a background in psychology, and they do not sound overly educated in their fields. Maybe even at a level of a tRUMP U. Graduate... But that Dr. Chitra Raghvan- Woohoooo... I'm a val ya know!

He was, like, freaking me out He called me a beastie That's 'cause, like He was totally blitzed He goes, like, bag your face!

I'm sure!

O, like I go into this, like, salon place, y'know And I wanted, like, to get my toenails done And the lady, like, goes "Oh, my god, your toenails are, like, so grody" It was, like, really embarrassing She's like "Oh, my God, like, bag those toenails" I'm like, "Sure" She goes "Uh, I don't know if I can handle this" Y'know I was like really embarrassed!!

It's like grody Grody to the max I'm sure It's, like, really nauseating Like, barf out Gag me with a spoon!

Gross!

I am sure!

Totally!
  • talis-briedis-79-541083
  • Aug 9, 2021
  • Permalink
10/10

Raw True Crime Documentary

This is one of the best Raw True Crime Documentary out there.
  • portal1790
  • Sep 24, 2021
  • Permalink
6/10

Repetitive

It was fascinating, but many of the cases repeated. They could have found new cases if 1 in 100 men are psychopaths... The difference in psychopathic women is fascinating. I definitely learned that nobody can be trusted. The professionals did a good job at pointing out aberrant behavior and seemed knowledgeable. I loved the sting episode. This is a good show if you are interested in psychopathic behavior and/ or serial killers, their thought processes, how they can kill someone, etc. It is fun/ scary to watch the interviews. 1 in 100... Think about that next time you come to a concert, amusement park, movie theater, etc...
  • dbucci-87008
  • Sep 3, 2023
  • Permalink
9/10

Great show, but disgusting at the same time

No doubt, this is a great show if you are looking for getting some insights of psychopath. However, it makes me sick even though there is no brutal graphical description in the show. I'm sick of their callousness and the way they justified themselves.

I'm a big fan of crime shows, but, I really don't wanna see this show again at the same time. Big relief that I can't understand any of their behavior.
  • neseneu
  • Aug 18, 2021
  • Permalink
3/10

Misleading Title

The so called experts present little insight into the subject matter and fail to offer any real science-based evidence that would identify the featured defendants as psychopathic. At the most their crimes and actions show some sociopathic tendencies or personality disorders but nothing rising to the level of the misleading title.
  • respite-66533
  • Aug 31, 2021
  • Permalink
10/10

Probably the darkest show Ive seen

I thought I knew what psychopathy was, but this show really made me understand what they are-and what they are is terrifying. The editing and the way psychologists narrate everything help you take a chilling peek into what is actually going on in their heads. It shows how their thinking can be eerily rational, just without any trace of empathy. It made me realize how different their internal world really is. You start to notice patterns in how they talk, how they shift blame, and how emotionally flat they are. It is not loud or dramatic-it is quiet, controlled, and unsettling. The show does a great job of letting the facts and behavior speak for themselves.
  • coreanpolar
  • Jul 15, 2025
  • Permalink
10/10

> Season 3 > Episode 6 "I'm just a sick murderer"

  • firballblaze-69689
  • Oct 12, 2021
  • Permalink
9/10

"It's Bad."

I've just seen a 10th episode in this docuseries, which despite the near-innumerable repetitions of "classic" serial killers & the various horrors depicted in Snapped & Forensic Files and such since these kinds of programs 1st came to my attention 25 years ago, has managed to plumb new depths in exposing the vilest of the sickest that slime the Earth. There are a smattering of "familiar" cases (a few I've actually surmised just from the sat program guide synopses, which are none too detailed), but these are mostly not, which ramps up the nightmare factor. It's an even deeper plunge into the lowest depths of Hell than the "standard" true-confessions programs e.g. The Murder Tapes, because this 1 is focused entirely on the rotted-out husks of "people" wrapped in humanoid hides of which, repellent as they are, it would do well for more of the populace to be aware. To have knowledge of such "signs" as are on display here in this Rotters' Row can help prevent more victims than there already have been - which is *too* many. Except for, also "too many," onscreen screwups on the part of these overpaid people labeled "transcribers" whose erroneous output gives the impression they're operating with wax-filled ears, I find this series to be of very good quality. The onscreen info sitting in for a narrator is clearly presented & concise, the articulate interviewees convey their observations with a welcome minimum of body English (1 evidently lefthanded male "doctor" though keeps straying from the steady path) & nonexistent "Yew No" littered vocal hysterics - please let them not ever engage that over-hyperactive MW Phelps cretin! The background score, while featuring a few "leftover" elements, & *emphatic" sound effects do not overwhelm the dialogue - though I expect many could wish it did. Well, so mega unfortunately, there's no scarcity of incidents which could use an airing to a larger audience, so I hope that for the interests of enlightening people on an important subject, this here historically attention deficit disordered IDiot channel doesn't capriciously discontinue this series. They have more than enough such stupidity e.g. Over My Dead Body as it is; (much) less dateline/2020/48 hours & that excruciating cow P. Zahn & more of this kind of "better" production, & their now thankfully dropped self promo of being the "#1 true crime network" will actually have some truth to it.
  • kensirhan-86198
  • Oct 7, 2021
  • Permalink
10/10

Into the mind of a real psychopath

Twenty minute (without commercials) true crime shows can be much mire effective and powerful than a longer true crime show, documentary or miniseries. If not excellently produced, longer true crime can be longwinded, repetitive, or get off track. If you're interested in the psychology and psychopathy of perpetrators (not just playing detective during a show, which I admittedly do), then Signs of a Psychopath is for you. The show cover the basics of the crime, but the juiciness is the police detective video interview footage with the killers and the analyzation of the killers by Criminologists, and Forensic Psychologists, Neuropsychologists, and Psychiatrists. Listening to the killers talk freely and proudly about their crimes with no compassion and no conscience is mind-blowing.
  • jeannettelouisesmith
  • Jan 25, 2025
  • Permalink
1/10

So Badly Done

Any psychiatrist, psychologist or physiologist that offers to dissect a case in which they are in no way involved, and only based on transcripts/interrogation interviews isn't anyone who should be taken seriously. It's incredibly illogical and against everything you're taught to make a diagnosis or an assumption thereto with no role played in the persons care. Period. And if you are involved, you're bound by HIPPAA and other laws from discussing any aspects of the case.

As much as people love to be 'entertained' by the murder/death/kill genre, this fake diagnosis accompanied by creepy music isn't a recommended path to traverse. Some of these so-called experts seem far too giddy to be on camera; I'm guessing because someone is actually asking to hear their thoughts- however, if you're worth anything, you'd be practicing on actual patients and not pseudo diagnosing them for ID.
  • helenahandbasket-93734
  • May 17, 2022
  • Permalink
5/10

Has potential

The most interesting parts of this series are the interrogation clips. Most of them using outdated and non scientific interrogation techniques.

A set of experts try to explain how every suspect in the series are psycopats, only based on transcripts and interrogations audio/video. Even if the experts sometimes agree that the suspects only have a degree of psycopathic behavior, the series miss an opposing view, with someone like professor Gisli Gudjonson and his work on false confessions and interrogations.

False confessions and interrogation methods would be another great tv series if you are more into documentaries based on facts than entertainment.
  • jenstf
  • Nov 27, 2023
  • Permalink
4/10

Bad experts

I'm a huge true crimes fan. Although, why HBO hired some grease faced actress to be an expert, I'll never understand. She literally is reading a script. Also when I mean grease, I mean her face. It's so nasty. She doesn't know any of the cases, which is glaringly obvious. The show is a good concept, but there experts are just actors. This is incredibly embarks to the director. This is definitely a non-watch. I'd suggest looking up Jim Can't Swim on youtube, I promise you'll have a much better time. If I wasn't honest more people would suffer through fake experts. Hollywood is dieing obviously.
  • gg-56267
  • Aug 30, 2023
  • Permalink
5/10

IS IT A BOOK OR A VISUAL?

Psychopaths are physiologically and scientifically a sub species of human. Their brains are physically different as many MRIs and PETs have proven. Their thought processes are different. This show shines a light on that, and for that it gets a ten. The issue is with how this show tells you the information. It's a television show, it should NOT make you have to read it, that is a BOOK. The sound engineers can boost the audio so that you don't have to read the show. It's distracting and takes away from what is being said. It also does this stupid thing with floating words to 'emphasise' what is being said. We don't need that. Also lately shows keep 'warning' about adult /graphic content. We don't need it, it's a show about psychopaths, it's going to be disturbing. Then, after a useless warning the show proceeds the blur everything out. There are plenty of forensic shows that do not do this. Either you show the reality of it, or don't show it AT ALL. This nanny state of television has got to stop. This is an important show to get it through the minds of people that psychopaths are subhuman, they are physically and psychologically different. They need to be monitored and locked up because of this, the same way any invasive species is. In nature, invasive species are killed off and not allowed to overpopulate. There are psychologists on this show that in one sentence say psychopaths do not feel the same way humans do, which is true, then they will say 'they suffer from psychopathy'. No they do not suffer because they do not feel suffering. If the show would either show reality without blurring (like Forensic Files first 15 years, Dr G, and the first ten season of First 48), or show nothing; fix the audio so we would not have to read the damn episodes; and clean up the psychologist word salad it would be a ten. This is not a series to be binged unless you want to be depressed, apathetic and tired; or you are a psychopath in which case this show will do nothing for you.
  • cantrelayne
  • Aug 14, 2025
  • Permalink
5/10

Lack of subtitles makes this unwatchable

The audio of the entire show is terrible. Not only are their very poor quality recordings (from interviews with the perpetrators), but the background soundtrack over the top makes it even harder to hear what is being said on the recordings. If you can't hear what's being said, why bother watching? I turned up headphones but the sound mixing is so bad, this just made the backing track louder and didn't improve the clarity or comprehension of the recorded interviews. Gave up after 1.5 episodes. I'm interested in the psychology of true crime but didn't feel this show was sufficiently competent in putting together 23 min episode case studies. It could have been good though if they had a better team behind it. Shame.
  • rupertpatterson
  • Oct 19, 2022
  • Permalink
1/10

True crime expertise?

Those supposed experts ain't droppin' any real deep insights you can't just Google, and tryna dissect a sociopath's crime in a quick twenty? That's just scratchin' the surface, man. These cases are cool and all, but man, there are cuts in the real footage all the freakin' time. It's a real buzzkill. The editing's a pain, and you can hardly catch what the criminals and the investigators are sayin'. You know, there are way cooler documentaries out there on real crimes and psychos. So, go hunt down something else if you're into that criminal mind stuff.

True crime expertise? Not worth the Google search.
  • danielleespindulasant
  • Oct 25, 2023
  • Permalink
5/10

Too Much Narration

The Drs commenting multiple times in each episode gets old fast. How many times can you repeat the same thing over and over for each narrative. I just want to watch it without all the dialogue from the Drs. I think it would be much better. The investigations and interviews themselves would have been enough.
  • sjvqxdsq
  • Aug 30, 2025
  • Permalink

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