Streaming platforms such as Netflix have recently thrived in making endless documentaries and biopics, with subjects ranging from true crime to the lives of pop icons. There seems to be endless variations of media published constantly on topics that the public is largely already educated on, the content merely satiating a need to continue to digest and re-digest baffling or mystifying events and figures. More and more celebrities are documenting their creative process or simply opening the doors to their private worlds through self-directed and produced documentaries, giving fans the opportunity to spend more time with otherwise elusive idols.

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

Some documentaries, which often fly under the radar of popular consumption, give a voice to underrepresented groups or misrepresented individuals. Climbing to the number one spot among the most watched films on Netflix (U.S) for the week of January 8, 2023, The Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker tells the story of a man behind a viral video.

The Viral Video

     Netflix

In 2013, the internet blew up with the amusingly unusual interview of a quirky hitchhiker nonchalantly recounting how he saved a woman from an assault by smashing a hatchet into the perpetrators head. The now famous KMPH Fox interview introduces the world to Kai, the nomadic, skateboarding, surf-loving hippie making his way through the California coast. Despite the harrowing circumstances he just survived, Kai opens his interview with words of encouragement for the viewer: “No matter what you done you deserve respect. Even if you’ve made mistakes, you’re lovable. And it doesn’t matter your looks, skill, age or size, you’re worthwhile. No one can ever take that away from you.”

After offering his wisdom, the reporter dives right into the story. Kai recalls accepting a ride for a man that quickly began to confess to sexual crimes he committed in the Virgin Islands, following up the confession with the declaration that he was Jesus. The driver then deliberately crashed into a pedestrian, proceeding to grab one of the women that rushed to the victim. This is when Kai reached for the hatchet in his bag and struck the man on the head repeatedly. In the interview, he re-enacts these motions, shouting “Smash, smash, SUH-MASH”. The young man’s demeanor is so comical that viewers could nearly forget that a terrible event had just taken place.

His evaluation of the experience he lived through is fairly simple: “It was f*cking gnarly man. That’s like the biggest wave I’ve ever ridden in my life.” Viewers did, in fact, forget that a terrible event had just taken place. As an early meme in the new-age, highly accessible video-sharing, the mononymic figure Kai was shared, parodied, and laughed at thousands of times over. The original interview posted to YouTube has well over seven million views, and the public did not seem to be interested in getting to know much more about the heroic hitchhiker outside of anything that could make them laugh.

The reality is that Kai had just survived a major trauma, and an adrenaline-fueled, matter-of-fact retelling of events was likely a result of a state of shock. He is suggested to furthermore come from a difficult background, with the final moments of the interview alluding to dark times in Kai’s life: “ As far as anyone I grew up with is concerned, I’m already dead.” Unsurprisingly, that part of the interview didn’t garner public fixation.

Murder Charge and Netflix Documentary

Following a wild ride with internet stardom, which culminated in an interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live, after this viral video, Kai— whose legal name is Caleb McGillvary— was arrested for the murder of attorney Joseph Galfy. McGillvary claims that the event, which took place just a couple of months after the viral video was released, was entirely in self-defense. He alleges that Galfy had sexually assaulted him after offering him a place to stay for the night. With the defense claiming that the sexual encounter was consensual and thus, the murder was premeditated. McGillvary has fervently denied this theory, insisting that not only is he not gay, but that Galfy wouldn’t be his type even if he was.

Despite enjoying endless fascination with the enigmatic Kai, and finding plenty to laugh about during what must have been one of the most traumatic experiences of his life at the time, the internet just did not care that much when he was placed behind bars. His story did not garner nearly as much attention at this juncture, perhaps because the public didn’t find anything to laugh about this time. Kai quietly went away to prison for his fifty-seven-year sentence.

This brings us to The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker, the Netflix documentary determined to shed light on the true and tragic story of the man behind the viral sensation. The documentary covers Kai’s rise to internet stardom, the circumstances of his arrest, and the subsequent trial. The newly released documentary has already begun to cause a stir, with many viewers calling the conviction into question.

A Netflix Hit

As the streaming service’s first true crime release of the new year, The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker has already cemented itself as a hit for Netflix. With its release being so fresh, social media buzz and press attention is likely to grow as viewership increases. This could be a life-changing development for the now 34-year-old convict, whose case could potentially benefit from newfound public scrutiny.