If you were at all tuned into the news in 2007, or if you’re an Italian living in Perugia, or if you are just interested in true crime, not much from The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox will be that surprising. Based on the real murder of British university student Meredith Kercher, the Hulu original series follows the crime from that fateful night of November 1, 2007, up to 2022, documenting the journey through the eyes of one Amanda Knox (Grace Van Patten). Created by K.J. Steinberg, the fictionalized dramatization of events once again puts a spotlight on the media frenzy that circled Knox after she was accused of brutally murdering her roommate, Meredith Kercher (Rhianne Barreto), in Italy, along with her boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito (Giuseppe De Domenico). The series follows Knox and Sollecito’s trial, gets into who actually went to prison for murdering Meredith, and the aftermath of Knox’s life after being released from prison and returning to the U.S. And while the series is beautifully shot, with amazing acting and a story that sticks relatively close to the original case (if neglecting or ignoring some of the minutiae), the series has a ghoulish quality to it that doesn’t sit well when all is said and done. At the end of the day, this is a story about Amanda Knox, and considering that Meredith Kercher’s convicted killer, Rudy Guede, walks free today (and has once again been accused of sexual assault), it’s a shame that the show focuses so little on Meredith’s death and the injustice of it all.
‘The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox’ Depicts an Eyebrow-Raising Retrial of the Infamous Case

Amanda Knox’s trial is likely one of the most publicized trials of the early 2000s, with the entire world scrutinizing the case. Coming into the truly digital age meant that while on trial, photos of Amanda were dug up by the media to fit the story they wanted to portray. At some points, she was a gun-toting killer; at others, she was dubbed “Foxy Knoxy” and viciously slut shamed. It was, undeniably, a horrific way of treating a girl who was only 20 years old. However, thanks to the media attention given to the crime from the very beginning, we get a play-by-play reenactment through Amanda’s eyes of what happened, with a keen devotion to the picture-perfect accuracy of the events at the time. However, the series is executive-produced by Knox herself (alongside Monica Lewinsky, among others), and there are times when you have to wonder how conscious Knox is of this portrayal of her. To be clear, the Amanda of The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox, especially in the beginning, is a difficult character to like and, at times, even infuriating. We see the events of the day of Meredith’s death through her eyes, so in the show, she is innocent. However, her behavior afterward is infamously questionable. Giggling and flirting with her boyfriend at the police precinct while her friends are crying, doing yoga and the splits while waiting to be questioned, smiling and acting cute when questioned by the police. It’s difficult to watch the series and not want to shake some sense into her, but that’s kind of the point of it all. She’s 20, in a country where she barely speaks the language, and — by her eyes — she is innocent. This polarizing portrayal of Knox works to the series’ benefit in not trying to show too much bias toward her. But the facts of the case still leave some room for doubt even after the final episode. The series also gives us the perspective of the police — who are nearly all villainous to the point of mustache-twirling — and Amanda’s prosecutor, Giuliano Mignini (Francesco Acquaroli), an Italian magistrate with delusions of grandeur. It’s clear from the portrayal of the detectives solving this case that they are misogynistic, arrogant, and quickly jump to conclusions, coming up with a fantastical tale of how they imagined Meredith died, putting Amanda at the center of it, whether or not the facts fit their hypothesis. The series tries to humanize Mignini (a real-life Italian magistrate with his own issues), but to offset any potential humanity they give him, all of his toadies are one-dimensional, corrupt cops. Similarly, the series tries to focus on Raffaele Sollecito, Amanda’s one-week boyfriend at the time, trying to flesh him out, but at the end of the day, the lion’s share of the screen time is focused on her.
There’s Too Much Amanda Knox in ‘The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox’

Meredith Kercher (Rhianne Barreto) with Amanda Knox (Grace Van Patten) walking through Perugia in The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox
Image via Hulu

Admittedly, in a show literally titled The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox, it sounds a little foolish to demand that the series turn its focus to someone else. But the show begins the story by leaning into an Amélie-esque beginning, recounting Amanda’s origin story like a fairytale through rose-colored lenses. She is instantly the image of a girl who is not like the others, a quirky and fun-loving individual who just wants to find herself in a new country. It’s impossible not to empathize with Amanda here. Nearly every episode is told from her point of view; we listen to her internal dialogue, and we follow her footsteps, so we know she didn’t commit the crime. But it often feels like the series is trying to convince us this is the real story, not a biased retelling. It focuses on Amanda’s struggle while only briefly portraying the horrors that the Kercher family must have had to live through. Meredith is a mere footnote, uplifted like a saint but given no depth of character. While every other side character gets their own version of a backstory, Meredith gets none. Even at the time of writing this review, the IMDb page for this series doesn’t even list who is playing her. She is the catalyst for the events, and it never moves beyond that. And at the end of the day, it’s hard not to continuously think back to Meredith, a girl who was so gruesomely murdered that even the homicide detectives were horrified by the crime scene, and her family, who had to suffer through that same horrific trial, and wonder why we’re here again with Amanda Knox rather than Meredith Kercher. Her name is forever linked to Amanda’s, but it is Amanda’s story that is continuously being told. At a time when it is more important than ever to remember the actual victims of the crime rather than any perpetrators — accused or otherwise — the series is more committed to Amanda’s plight than Meredith’s. Any time Meredith’s pain is mentioned, it is in tandem with Amanda’s. We get little time understanding why Meredith was even killed. In fact, the series implies that the killer was far more interested in Amanda than he was in Meredith. When the show finally closes in on the actual night of Meredith’s death, the motive of the killer is still unclear and seems completely random; there’s little explanation. It’s a short and terrifying scene, and then she’s dead. At multiple moments after her return to America, Amanda laments that she wishes she could just go back to being the girl she was, rather than having to hide from the paparazzi or live under public scrutiny — and yet, 18 years after Meredith Kercher’s murder, the person bringing the story back into the public eye through a massive Hulu Originals release is Knox herself.
‘The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox’s Performances Are the Ultimate Win

Reservations aside about the intention behind this series, it’s undeniable that the talent is there. Grace Van Patten is fantastic as a vulnerable Amanda, vacillating between quirky and petrified. Some of her best acting is curiously done when she is slipping in and out of Italian, and she steals the scene in every shot. On top of that, Van Patten and Giuseppe De Domenico, who plays Raffaele, have amazing romantic chemistry. You can sense that although they’ve known each other for just a week, they’re in love. In fact, their chemistry is so good that when compared to Van Patten’s chemistry with Jared Canfield (who plays Amanda’s husband, Chris Robinson), the latter is decidedly lackluster. In the supporting cast, Sharon Horgan comes in as Edda Mellas, Amanda’s mother, and delivers a stirring and powerful performance as a heartbroken and hopeless mother who is up against a system she doesn’t understand. Quietly in the back is John Hoogenakker, who plays Curt Knox, Amanda’s father. Although Horgan earns the most scenes with Van Patten, Hoogenakker easily makes Curt one of the gentlest characters and the easiest one to love. He’s a dad who would do anything for his daughter, and in the moments when he breaks down, it’s impossible not to feel your own heartbreak. Again, in this case, Horgan and Hoogenakker have good chemistry together, to the point where Horgan’s chemistry with Joe Lanza (playing Edda’s current husband) suffers. Unsurprisingly, the best scenes Van Patten has are with Francesco Acquaroli. Acquaroli is maddening at times with how dogged he plays Mignini, a man who sees himself as a white knight and an arbiter of justice. There’s one particular long scene in the finale that really highlights the conflict Mignini faces years after Amanda’s trial. Although the show initially sets him up as a villainous inquisitor, it also slowly breaks down that façade to reveal the real human beneath.
‘The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox’ Is a Missed Opportunity

Amanda Knox (Grace Van Patten) with her husband Chris (Jared Canfield), and their daughter in The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox
Image via Hulu

If you’re looking for an accurate view of the case of Amanda Knox, this is not the show for you. In fact, this is definitely not where you should start. The series artfully sidesteps some of the more questionable details about the case that cast a grayer shadow on Knox. It absolves the decisions made by Mignini, both the investigator and prosecutor on the case, as a man who was simply blindly looking for justice, seeing his daughters when he looked at Meredith’s corpse. It also portrays the false accusation of Patrick Lumumba (Souleymane Seye Ndiaye) as the confused actions of a frightened girl, without any of the more problematic assumptions that come with a white girl pointing a finger at an innocent Black man whom she knew had nothing to do with the crime. The series’ bias is clear. Yes, Amanda is lucky because she’s gotten to live at least, but in a pivotal moment in the finale, she directly compares herself as a victim to Meredith’s own murder. The message is clear — Meredith’s death was horrible, but Amanda’s persecution was just as bad. And while your mileage may vary on where you stand with this, The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox makes it clear that you should absolve her of any guilt. At one point during the series, Amanda’s sister (Anna Van Patten) bemoans the fact that it’s always “the Amanda show” and accuses her of being selfish, and while it’s difficult to agree with her sister in that moment, the sentiment reflects the series. Too often, victims are forgotten in true crime cases, and yet how many people have been led to believe that the case involving Amanda Knox is about her death, rather than the murder of Meredith Kercher? The series dollops in scenes of Meredith in small portions whenever Amanda wants to reflect fondly on her, but it serves Amanda’s narrative. After all, this is the Amanda show, and that, in itself, is infuriating. The first two episodes of The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox are available to stream on Hulu; new episodes drop every Wednesday.

The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox poster

The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox

The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox offers a sympathetic but biased portrayal of the infamous trial while once again pushing the victim into the background.

Release Date

2025 – 2025-00-00

Network

Hulu

Grace Van Patten

Amanda Knox

Sharon Horgan

Edda Mellas

Pros & Cons

Grace Van Patten and Francesco Acquaroli are standout performances that carry the show.
The series closely reflects the real-life events of the case with picture-perfect accuracy.

The series positions Meredith Kercher as more as a supporting character to this story, rather than the key victim.
The series makes a definitive stance that Amanda Knox is innocent, comparing her plight to Meredith’s murder.