It is the story of an idyllic couple of young, athletic, tanned and financially wealthy Californians who live in a pretty yellow and white house in the suburbs of San Francisco.
Updated at 8:15am yesterday.
He, Aaron Quinn, 30, was captain of his soccer team. She, Denise Huskins, 29, was a model student. These two lovebirds now work as physical therapists at the hospital in Vallejo, a quiet, charming, uneventful town.
In short, they are perfect and it looks great.
But since Aaron and Denise are the protagonists of a compelling true-crime series on Netflix, you can expect this cute Vanity Fair magazine-style portrait to end tragically dark in an unimaginable way. It's really stunning.
This attractive novelty, the most popular on the Netflix platform, is called American Nightmare (The Hijacked Truth: from Dream to American Nightmare, in French version).
A few years ago, Netflix would have artificially inflated its spooky American Nightmare to six or eight episodes. Because this horrific story of a kidnapping and a serial rapist is so amazing and full of breathtaking twists that viewers would have swallowed it all, even the most watered down parts.
This time there is no unnecessary filler. There are only three hour long episodes of American Nightmare, thank you, good evening. We are offered a compact story that can be devoured like a thriller without any downtime.
PHOTO FROM THE NETFLIX SERIES
Aaron Quinn
Aaron's and especially Denise's nightmare began on the night of March 23, 2015. A squad of hooded men – and dressed in diving suits – gently entered Denise and Aaron's bedroom, who were fast asleep. The intruders, who know Denise and Aaron's first names, blind the couple with strobe lights and lasers.
They put swimming goggles on Denise and Aaron, which were covered with black tape. They put headphones on their ears and play relaxing wind chime music.
Then the masked men, strangely polite and delicate for burglars, tie up the two victims and even take their blood pressure.
They then drug Aaron with the anti-anxiety NyQuil and leave with Denise. It's then around 3 a.m., long before sunrise. And here, without giving anything away, this matter gets even more bizarre.
It wasn't until ten hours later that Aaron contacted the local Vallejo police and reported his girlfriend Denise missing. Back at the station, Aaron recounts all the details of the kidnapping with suspicious precision: the diving suits, the blinding lights, the goggles, the blood pressure, the gentleness of the kidnappers' tone, the spa music, the NyQuil, he doesn't forget anything.
The detective in front of him – who, like Colonel Mustard, is called Mat Mustard – doesn't buy Aaron's ultra-accurate version. Neither does the FBI. Result ? Aaron becomes the prime suspect in the kidnapping of his girlfriend Denise. The investigators cook him for 18 hours and Aaron, pleading his innocence, finally hires a lawyer.
“American Nightmare” reaches new levels of strange when Denise resurfaces safely 48 hours later, more than 400 miles from home. Her captors dropped her off at the door of her father's home in Huntington Beach, south of Los Angeles.
No, but, no, but, how can all these oddities be explained? You'll have to wait. Because Denise (the victim, let's not forget that) refuses to talk to the police and also contacts a criminal lawyer.
Surprised and frustrated by Denise's silence, the investigators jump to conclusions: Here is an exact reconstruction of the film “Gone Girl” by David Fincher, which was released the year before.
This woman (Denise) staged her disappearance to accuse her partner (Aaron). The national media, including the very nuanced Nancy Grace, is focused on the “real Gone Girl” and it is hell.
You're probably complaining: Let's see, Dumas, close your box, you don't have to tell us everything! Don't panic, friends. This information represents only a tiny portion of the three hours you will undoubtedly consume this weekend. It's high-profile.
Produced by the same team as “The Tinder Swindler,” “American Nightmare” has all the elements we love in true crime: excerpts from suspect interrogations, police body camera footage, panicked (or too calm) 911 calls, alarming excerpts from local news reports, home videos shot on iPhones and the testimony of an old hand in forensic journalism.
Note to my therapist: There's definitely something super unhealthy about taking pleasure in the misfortune of complete strangers. Please explain.
I Levite
With I come towards you on Noovo
PHOTO CATHERINE LEFEBVRE, ARCHIVE, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Marc Labrèche on the set of “I’m coming to you”.
Marc Labrèche's twice-weekly show (Monday and Tuesday at 9 p.m.) is on his X. The mix of guest chakras always makes for delicious moments. I love Mathieu Pepper, Élise Guilbault, Fabiola Aladin, Pascale Renaud-Hébert and Virginie Ranger-Beauregard. The host is on fire. The tape is perfectly grafted onto the motherboard. And the “Champagne!” show business! » should appear more often. Damn, it's funny. The one on Monday with Gino Chouinard was dying.
I Levite
Egotistical, from Justin Timberlake
PHOTO ALAIN DÉCARIE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVE
Justin Timberlake performs
It's been a long time since Justin Timberlake released good music. Since FutureSex/LoveSounds, in 2006 to be exact. Wait. We can also give him Mirrors from the 2013 album The 20/20 Experience. But that's all. His new single “Selfish,” released Thursday morning, is totally boring. Bad lyrics, flat rhythm, will Justin find his SexyBack one day? It went very badly.