The true story behind Netflix miniseries Unbelievable

What happened to Marie could’ve been a Law & Order episode. But it’s all true, and now a new Netflix miniseries. WARNING: Confronting

WARNING: Confronting content

Marie woke up abruptly to find a masked man standing over her bed, holding a knife.

He blindfolded her, tied her up with her own shoelaces, and raped her. When he was done, he took photos of her and said if she told anyone, he would post the images online alongside her name.

But she did tell. She told the police, her two former foster mothers and her friends. She did what many rape victims don’t for fear of not being believed.

They didn’t believe Marie.

The police exploited inconsistencies in her story and coerced her into recanting. Under pressure, Marie said she believed it happened before backing down to say she must have dreamt it. Eventually, she said she had lied.

Marie was charged with filing a false report and fined $500 by the court.

Kaitlyn Dever plays Marie in Unbelievable. Picture: Netflix

Three states over in Colorado, another young woman reported to the police a rape with similar markers. The detective in that case, an experienced female cop, started investigating. Before long, she found another rape case in a different jurisdiction.

There was a serial rapist on the loose — Marie was telling the truth.

Marie’s story seemed absurd, like an episode of Law & Order before Olivia Benson stepped in and put things right.

But it all happened, as detailed in a Pulitzer-winning expose published by ProPublica and The Marshall Project in 2015.

Now it’s the subject of a new dramatised Netflix miniseries which, since its release last Friday, has been garnering rave reviews. It currently has a 94% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The series’ name, Unbelievable, is a nod to the second battle sexual assault victims are often subjected to in reporting what happened to them.

RELATED: Netflix scores victory in ongoing global war

RELATED: Movies peaked in 1999

Merritt Wever is best known for her roles in Nurse Jackie and Godless. Picture: Netflix

Unbelievable is a compelling and well-crafted eight-part series, with the likes of writer Susannah Grant (Erin Brokovich), novelist Michael Chabon (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay), director Lisa Cholodenko (The Kids Are All Right) and journalist and author Katie Couric involved behind the camera.

Booksmart star Kaitlyn Dever captures the vulnerability and defiance of Marie, a complex young woman with a troubled background, someone who didn’t “behave” as a sex assault victim should — at the core of this series is examining preconceived notions of what we expect from rape victims.

That Marie seemed detached was one of the reasons the cops assigned to her case didn’t believe her story.

Australian actor Danielle Macdonald (Patti Cake$) plays another victim, someone who is worlds apart from Marie — but she was lucky that Detective Karen Duvall (Merritt Wever) caught her case.

Unbelievable tells the real-life story of a disbelieved rape victim over eight episodes. Picture: Netflix

Bingeing just got easier with the New Foxtel Experience. Foxtel and Netflix now all in one place. Get Foxtel

Toni Collette appears on the scene at the end of the second episode as Detective Grace Rasmussen, who has a similar case on her books.

It’s a great core cast of women who all approach their roles with care and nuance, knowing the great responsibility of telling this story on screen. The supporting cast includes Elizabeth Marvel, Bridget Everett, Dale Dickey and Liza Lapira.

Unbelievable had the formidable challenge of committing to screen an incredibly intricate true life story that is not only important to the people who lived through it, but also to all the other women and law enforcement who have experienced a predator in their midst.

This Netflix series does it justice. It’s a wonderfully written, faithful dramatisation that evokes Marie’s unbelievable experience.

Unbelievable is available to stream on Netflix now.

Share your TV and movies obsessions | @wenleima