I knew about the Mostly Harmless investigation and loosely followed it so going into it I knew where the documentary was headed, or at least I thought so. Really it's a documentary about some of the people who met him on the Appalachian Trail and forum moderator drama. There is so much forum moderator drama in this documentary.
When the 'twist' happens and you find out that Mostly Harmless was actually abusive towards women it gets glossed over. None of the details of his abuse are revealed and it quickly cuts to the people who met him on the trail saying that the Mostly Harmless they knew was a nice guy. Then cutting back to the forum moderators.
If the documentary wanted to be adjacent to the actual story of Mostly Harmless the hiker they could have split it into two parts. The investigation into finding out his identity and then the aftermath when they realize they spent years finding out he wasn't actually a good person.
For the actual story of Mostly Harmless read the 2021 Wired article by Nicholas Thompson, "The Unsettling Truth About the 'Mostly Harmless' Hiker."
When the 'twist' happens and you find out that Mostly Harmless was actually abusive towards women it gets glossed over. None of the details of his abuse are revealed and it quickly cuts to the people who met him on the trail saying that the Mostly Harmless they knew was a nice guy. Then cutting back to the forum moderators.
If the documentary wanted to be adjacent to the actual story of Mostly Harmless the hiker they could have split it into two parts. The investigation into finding out his identity and then the aftermath when they realize they spent years finding out he wasn't actually a good person.
For the actual story of Mostly Harmless read the 2021 Wired article by Nicholas Thompson, "The Unsettling Truth About the 'Mostly Harmless' Hiker."