If we’re learned anything from the powerful documentaries of late (Surviving R. Kelly, Leaving Neverland, etc.) is that our perceived notions of what we thought was the whole story were nothing compared to the truth. In other words, these hard-hitting documentaries explore a person or topic with a deeper lens, which in turn opens the door wide open to a full new understanding. This latest documentary is showing that we only knew a portion of the truth. 

“Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez” is a new documentary on Netflix that will be premiering on Jan. 15.

The 3-part series looks into the story of the former NFL player who reportedly committed suicide inside his prison cell in 2017. If the documentary is anything like the trailer, we’re in for a crazy ride — and not the right kind, but the ones that leave you bewildered. 

While the public has some perspective on the situation that landed Hernandez in jail, the show goes in deeper into his childhood, family, and life before he became a superstar athlete. 

The series takes a look at the making of the NFL pro and how Hernandez was propelled from high school football player to a multi-million dollar contract. 

It’s a fascinating look to see how this charming young kid turned out to be a killer. If we have learned from any other True Crime stories is that a killer isn’t just a sociopath, sometimes this killer tendencies develope over time, and we never know what was at the root of their issues. 

With Hernandez, we learn through this series that his family had a lot to do with how his life would play out later.

The trailer includes conversations that he had over the phone with his mother, including one in which he tells her that there was no way he would ever turn out to be an angel, especially because she was never there for him. 

The show will also include the turbulent relationship he had with his abusive father. An investigative report in Spotlight inside the Boston Globe released in 2018 added detailed accounts of how Hernandez suffered at the hands of his father. 

“Aaron and his older brother were often beaten and brutalized by their dad,” the Boston Globe reports. “Aaron didn’t cry at his father’s funeral, and people took note. He kept it all inside.” His brother said that they both lived in “constant fear of their father’s beatings.” 

Hernandez and his mother also had a very tumultuous relationship. It seemed as if football was his only way out of that chaotic family life. His high school friends recall him as a kind person, amusing, and said he didn’t pick on other kids. 

When the Patriots gave him a $40 million contract, Hernandez’s life just got more out of control. 

The trailer shows that all the suffering he went through at home, combined with superstardom, the pressures of delivering for the Patriots, “made him a ticking time bomb.” Not only did Hernandez get into a life of alcohol, drugs, and weapons, and as a witness in his trial said, “it was like he was out to prove something.” 

In 2015, Hernandez was charged for the murder of Odin Lloyd, a former football player who was dating the sister of Hernandez’s fiancee, Shayanna Jenkins. Hernandez was let go from the team even though he told his coach he had nothing to do with the murder. As the documentary shows, he was able to play a successful season with the Patriots even though he had killed someone. 

The trailer also explores one of the most interesting aspects of the life of Hernandez, which concerned his mental health caused by CTE.

The documentary shows how Hernandez went from being a fun-loving yet troubled kid to an angry adult that would get violent at the drop of a dime. That kind of drastic change, including his suicide, is speculated to have been a result of his diagnosis of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). CTE is caused after a person receives multiple blows to the head. It’s been highly reported that, more often than not, NFL players have been diagnosed with CTE. The unfortunate aspect of this illness is that people cannot be diagnosed until they are dead. That is when their brains can be studied. 

The symptoms of CTE include memory loss, confusion, impaired judgment, impulse control problems, aggression, depression, anxiety, suicidality, parkinsonism, and, eventually, progressive dementia.  Hernandez clearly showed many of these symptoms, including his eventual suicide in 2017. 

Check out the trailer below. 

READ: After Aaron Hernandez’s Brain Was Donated For CTE Research, It Was Found That He Had The Worst Case Of CTE For Someone His Age

There’s no denying that the world has an intense obsession with climate activist and queen bee  Greta Thunberg.  The straightforward teen who has had her mind on enacting change for the climate crisis by leading school climate strikes and delivering damning speeches has caught the attention of just about everyone within the past year. And she’s touched people too. In the past year, researchers have reported a massive uptick in positive approaches to helping the environment. In June of this past year, Swedish Railways reported  that t the number of Swedes taking the train for domestic journeys had risen by 8% from the previous year. Recently TIME magazine featured her as their Time Person Of The Year, much to President Donald Trump’s chagrin. 

Thunberg’s impact on the globe and our environment has been so inspiring, Hulu wants to make a documentary about her.

Currently titled “Greta,” the climate activist is ready to talk to you face to face… via a TV screen.

 On Monday, it was announced by the big time streaming service that Thunberg is set to be the subject of one of their latest documentaries. Tentatively titled “Greta” the Hulu documentary is said to focus on the climate change activist and her activism. In a statement to Deadline, Hulu released a longline that describes the film as following Thunberg beginning in 2019.  

“In August 2018, Thunberg, a 15-year-old student in Sweden, starts a school strike for the climate. Her question for adults: if you don’t care about my future on earth, why should I care about my future in school? Within months, her strike evolves into a global movement. The quiet teenage girl on the autism spectrum becomes a world-famous activist.”

The documentary is directed by Nathan Grossman, the same creator behind the documentary The Man Who Played with Fire about writer Stieg Larrson of the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Series. Through the documentary, audiences will have a chance to watch journey of Thunberg from her days as a Swedish teen kicking off her own first school strike in Stockholm, Sweden in 2018 through to her appearances as parliaments and massive international protests this year. According to Deadline, the documentary has been made to “make the world understand the urgency of the climate crisis.”

The documentary is set to provide insight into Thunberg’s progression from an early age.

The film, which does not have a known date yet but is slated to be released in 2020, apparently was made possible after Hulu worked to follow Thunberg from her first burst into activism as a solo school strike participant. At the time, Thunberg challenged politicians and adults across the globe demanding them to answer the question “If you don’t care about my future on earth, why should I care about my future in school?”

Within just this past year, Thunberg’s strikes have sparked an international movement. 

PBS NewsHour on YouTube

Thunberg has held court with leading world leaders, she addressed the world in iconic speach at the United Nations Climate Action Summit, and more recently she received a nomination for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize. During her September appearance at the United Nations summit, Thunberg shamed leaders for imploring her help with this massive and devastating issue.  “I shouldn’t be up here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean,” she said. “Yet you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you! You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words… We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth.”

Thunberg’s presence has more than just shaken up our attention to the climate crisis, she’s also gotten under the skin of some of the biggest and conservative world leaders in existence.

Greta Thunberg/TwitterLast month, Trump, aged 73 and an extreme climate change denier, tweeted about Greta’s big TIME honor.

It was announced the Thunberg had been named Person of the Year by Time magazine this week for her uncompromising contribution to changing the course of the climate crisis. Most watching were relieved to find that the magazine had selected Thunberg in favor of a figure like Donald Trump. ( In 2016, the magazine selected Trump after his presidential election and disruption of traditional politics.) His selection had disgusted those who’d watched his horrendous campaign and attacks on women, people of color and other minorities throughout his campaign. So to say that the selection of a person devoted to changing the world for the better delighted most of us, would be an understatement.  Donald Trump however, proved to be extremely unhappy.