‘Confessions of a Killer’: All the tea regarding the Chris Watts movie

Chris Watts: Confessions of a Killer is a new Lifetime movie that tells the horrifying story of Chris Watts who brutally murdered his pregnant wife and two daughters. This highly publicized murder captured the attention of many who were mortified by Chris’ truly harrowing crime. 

After murdering his family on August 13, 2018, Chris admitted that he was guilty for strangling his wife Shanann and smothering his two daughters who were only three and four years old. Chris then disposed of their bodies by dumping them in oil-tanks and burying his wife at his work-site. After pleading guilty, Chris now rests in prison for life, charged on five counts of first-degree murder.

Confessions of a Killer depicts these horrific events as well as events leading up to the murders, and what happens afterwards. Many are interested in the unbelievable story, hoping to see what the movie unfolds and how the makers recreated the events of Chris Watts’ murders. Read on to get the full scoop on Confessions of a Killer. 

A warning from Shanann’s family

While many look forward to experiencing Confessions of a Killer, Shanann’s family has some serious concerns regarding the movie’s content. In January they held a press conference where they shared some of their warnings. 

The family told people not to take Confessions of a Killer at face value. Others, in fact, criticize the new movie for placing subtle blame on Shanann for some of Chris’s behavior. During Chris’ trial, his attorney argues that Chris had adverse reactions to Shanann’s highly marketed weight-loss products which supposedly caused him sleep deprivation.  

Shanann’s family has other problems with the production of the film including fears that the suffering they face from being harassed online will intensify. Additionally, the family will not profit from the film’s release, while Watts had made previous attempts to capitalize off of his murders by tell-all books and media appearances. With these warnings in mind, a close-look at Confessions of a Killer while watching is necessary.   

Eery, perfected details

While there are elements of the story that don’t perfectly adhere to the truth, the attention to detail is astonishing. The lifestyle, wardrobe, and mannerisms of the Watts family are meticulously designed to resemble the details from real-life footage of the family. 

Not only do the characters dress and act just like the real-life people, Confessions of a Killer captures their lifestyle. The home decor was stunning in its similarity, along with hairstyles, outfits, and personality. The movie even featured the two of them wearing Thrive patches, a weight loss supplement that Shanann marketed for her career. The actors truly embody these real-life people.

Shanann’s personality

An aspect of Confessions of a Killer that is spot-on is how they capture Shanann’s personality. Shanann commonly took to social media to express herself and promote Thrive. She frequently made inspirational videos. Confessions of a Killer clearly pays very close attention to Shanann’s content, actually recreating many of her videos. 

One of the videos that appears in Confessions of a Killer features Shanann announcing her pregnancy to Chris. The warmth of the scene is touching in a very unsettling way. Contrasting this moment of joy with the movie’s ending is chilling. Another uplifting video shows the upbeat Shanann talking about her diagnosis of Lupus and how she “beat the odds.” 

The extramarital affair

A large portion of Confessions of a Killer focuses on the hidden affair between Chris and his coworker Nichol Kessinger. In these scenes we get to see how Chris’s lies spring up, causing serious dissonance between Chris and his whole perfect family picture. 

Chris tells Nichol that he is currently separating from his wife and that the two were still working out how they were going to arrange their living situations. In Confessions of a Killer, it even shows Chris taking Nichol on a romantic camping trip. Released emails between Chris & Nichol reveal more of Chris’ many lies. Ironically, in one he writes, “I’m a straightforward guy. Lying just complicates things.”

The Confession

Confessions of a Killer accurately reenact both his initial investigation and his five-hour-long interview with Chris after he has been sentenced. Though Chris eventually tells the whole truth, his initial confusion was riddled with made-up stories about what happened when he murdered his family. 

Feigning the role of a concerned father, Chris first tells the policies that he had no idea why Shanann and his daughters disappeared. He also lied, explaining that he only killed Shanann after she harmed their daughters. During the interview after his conviction, however, he explains in detail how he viciously murdered his family and how. 

Shanann’s true end

While Confessions of a Killer got many things right, it did deviate from the truth when it came down to some details concerning the actual murder of Shanann. In the film, Chris claims that Shanann fought back against him. It even shows this battle between the couple during his murder scene. 

However, in real life, Chris said that Shanann didn’t fight back against him at all while he was strangling her to death. When asked why he theorized that she was perhaps thinking about the Bible and accepting her own death. 

Confessions of a Killer takes even more liberties during their showing of the murder as they show Chris confessing his affair with Nichol to Shanann. In Chris’ real confessions, however, he says that he never admitted his affair to Shanann. But who knows what events actually transpired between them. Since we only have Chris’s version of his murder, we may never know fully what happened. 

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