Featured Image Credit: Netflix
Topics: Netflix, Documentaries, True Crime, TV and Film
Jess Battison
I know, I know, it’s practically impossible to keep up with the latest watches on Netflix.
Just when you found the free time to binge the new docuseries about UFO sightings and terrifying disappearances, something else drops and gets your attention.
Netflix have been releasing banger after banger this year since it kicked off with Fool Me Once and since then we’ve had all sorts of true crime, sci-fi and drama releases to keep busy with.
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But find yourself some space in your binging schedule because viewers are now obsessing over the ‘most unhinged’ show that was added this week.
The docuseries follows a social experiment taking place at the Pulaski County Regional Detention Centre in Arkansas, which houses up to 1,200 people on any given day.
Unlocked: A Jail Experiment documents the process of the unit cells being unlocked for six weeks as ‘detainees create community and structure for themselves’.
This experiment was carried out to see if ‘more autonomy and less control’ inside jails can encourage more of a ‘community-oriented living environment’ and help with the goal of discouraging people from committing crimes in the future.
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Deputies were removed from the unit and a tier-based structure was put in place where detainees who have consistent good behaviour receive more benefits.
The men who chose to take part in the experiment were briefed about what to expect as Sheriff Higgins told Tudum: “We didn't automatically open the doors.
“We talked to them about the possibilities, and about behaviour. We gave them a list of responsibilities and [made] personnel available to them to ask more detailed questions [before filming began].”
The series captures both the experiment and the detainees’ experiences with ‘candid interviews’ and ‘unprecedented access’.
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Unlocked: A Jail Experiment is currently the third top programme on Netflix UK as viewers rave about it on X.
One wrote: “That unlocked jail experience is really wild. I salute.”
Another put: “Unlocked: A Jail Experiment is the most unhinged sh*t I’ve ever seen.”
Others simply put: “Unlocked A Jail Experiment is my sh*t.”
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Many were completely moved by the series as they wrote: “Sobbing. Just finished Unlocked: A Jail Experiment on @Netflix. Detainees are not animals and they need human connection. More to say on urgent need for prison reform, but for now: Thankful for the peak into this experience and rooting for the men of H Unit and @SheriffPulaski.”
Unlocked: A Jail Experiment is now streaming on Netflix.