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Netflix viewers warned to only watch ‘disturbing’ new documentary ‘if you’re emotionally stable’

Home> Entertainment> Netflix

Published 18:13 5 Mar 2024 GMT

Netflix viewers warned to only watch ‘disturbing’ new documentary ‘if you’re emotionally stable’

The shocking true crime documentary dropped today

Joshua Nair

Joshua Nair

A brand new true crime documentary has dropped on Netflix, with viewers branding it so disturbing you should only watch if you're 'emotionally stable'.

Fans of the true crime genre are set to have even more content to feast their eyes on as this has been branded a 'must-watch' by those who have been quick enough to binge the three-part series already.

Katherine Kubler.
Netflix

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The three parts are each over an hour long, with the Netflix documentary recalling the experiences of Katherine Kubler - who happens to be the director and narrator of the film - when she was sent to a youth behavioural correction institute as a teenager.

It also features other former 'students', as they all revisit the New York boarding school, Ivy Ridge.

All wasn't as it seemed

Parents were led into thinking their misbehaving kids were receiving a good education, but instead their kids were being abused physically and psychologically, as shown in the trailer with archive videos.

Those who feature in the documentary talk about the trauma they suffered, and footage shown from their time at the 'Academy of Ivy Ridge' is a hard watch.

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The documentary is called The Program: Cons, Cults and Kidnapping, and you can view the trailer here:

From kidnapping to control

Katherine is the director and narrator of the insightful crime docu-series, having been a student at the institute for 15 months.

She explains that she was 'kidnapped' in the middle of the night and brought to the school for troubled teens.

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The now-defunct 'school' was located in the New York, with the diploma available for students to obtain not even being recognised by the US state.

The impossible rule book

With staff at the school exploiting brainwashing techniques and treating the students like 'prisoners', those at the institute had to encounter a number of disturbing and inappropriate things from day-to-day.

Some of the rules included not being able to talk, look out of the window or even smile.

Former students also detailed that they couldn't go to the toilet without a staff member watching and that they were restrained a number of times.

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Meanwhile, some students recalled having to sleep on a mattress in the hallway with their arms out at either side.

The school operated on a strict points system which determined how long somebody would stay there for. Breaking the lengthy list of rules would see points deducted on the spot.

Archive footage was found of the students being physically abused.
Netflix

“No one thought to clean up the evidence"

After learning that the site of the former school was now abandoned, Katherine decided to head down with a film crew to make the documentary.

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But what she never expected was to find a load of documents, including former student files, restraint logs and CCTV footage showing incidents of excessive force and physical abuse.

“Finding the building and all of our files just re-traumatized the whole group,” Kubler told PEOPLE.

“It had been years, so to have this come flooding back into our lives in such an extreme way was wild. But there was this renewed energy — because we finally had the validation and proof — so we’re like, ‘Let's do something about it.’

“No one thought to clean up the evidence."

People couldn't believe what they were watching.
Netflix

Several viewers have lauded the detail that the documentary goes into, and how it exposed the 'troubled teen industry'.

Posting on X, one user said: "Watching the program on Netflix the sh*t people used to do to they kids!!"

Another viewer posted: "started watching ‘the program’ on Netflix and omg those poor kids. so dreadful to think this kind of sh*t is still happening"

A third put: "Shocking, disturbing and one feels with the victims so much... Only watch if you are emotionally stable"

A fourth simply said: "Netflix - The Program, You are welcome," replying with another post that read "Corruption is real."

The Program: Cons, Cults and Kidnapping is available to stream on Netflix now.

Featured Image Credit: Netflix

Topics: True Crime, Netflix, Documentaries, TV and Film

Joshua Nair
Joshua Nair

Joshua Nair is a journalist at LADbible. Born in Malaysia and raised in Dubai, he has always been interested in writing about a range of subjects, from sports to trending pop culture news. After graduating from Oxford Brookes University with a BA in Media, Journalism and Publishing, he got a job freelance writing for SPORTbible while working in marketing before landing a full-time role at LADbible. Unfortunately, he's unhealthily obsessed with Manchester United, which takes its toll on his mental and physical health. Daily.

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@joshnair10

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