Unknown Number: The High School Catfish – Review | Netflix (4/5)

UNKNOWN NUMBER: THE HIGH SCHOOL CATFISH on Netflix is a wild new true crime documentary from Skye Borgman. While the title includes catfish, this is much more about stalking. Read our full Unknown Number: The High School Catfish documentary review here!

UNKNOWN NUMBER: THE HIGH SCHOOL CATFISH is a new Netflix true crime documentary. From the fact that Skye Borgman directed this alone, I know to expect something wild. And boy, this one is a real doozy.

In fact, I will be doing some spoilers later on in this review. We don’t usually do that here at Heaven of Horror, but there is one exception, and that’s when it comes to documentaries and true crime. After all, the facts are already out there.

Continue reading our Unknown Number: The High School Catfish documentary review below. Find it on Netflix from August 29, 2025.

Cyberbullying in Small Town, USA

Usually, cyberbullying can happen from anywhere in the world. However, when the cyberbully seems to know everything about you, it becomes real-life stalking as well, which is a whole different ballgame.

As already mentioned, the “catfish” part of the Unknown Number: The High School Catfish is more catchy than it is accurate. For most of this true crime, it was about stalking, and the perpetrator was unknown to the victim and everyone else.

Catfishing is about pretending to be one thing (by using someone else’s photos, typically), and this is something very different.

WANT A CATFISH DOCUMENTARY?

Be sure to check out the documentary Sweet Bobby, also on Netflix >

In Unknown Number, the victims are the teenage girl, Lauryn, and her boyfriend, Owen. They are viciously cyberbullied by an unknown phone number. It all happens in Beal City, Michigan, which is such a small town that everyone knows everyone.

Basically, it must be someone they know in real life. Needless to say, this leads to extreme paranoia. At first, the cruel and disgusting text messages are a short stint followed by a long break in the menacing texts.

Then it begins again and lasts for many months.

And yes, the perpetrator is finally found, which is when it all stops. If you don’t know the facts of this true crime, then do not look it up. Instead, just follow the ride that documentary filmmaker Skye Borgman takes you on and find out.

It is truly shocking and absolutely wild. And yes, the cyberbully/stalker is also interviewed in this documentary, so we hear from them as well.

Who is the stalker in Unknown Number on Netflix? *spoilers*

I will be getting into who the perpetrator is in this next part, so scroll on down to the next headline if you want to avoid reading about that.

*spoilers in the next paragraph*

Usually, I wouldn’t spend too much time discussing the perpetrator, but for this true crime documentary, it seems impossible not to. After all, we do hear directly from her, and she presents a disturbing lack of accountability.

It turns out the cyberbully in Unknown Number is none other than the mother of Lauryn. Yes, the girl who was stalked and attacked for months.

Seeing her try to “explain” in various ways is wild. Comparing her acts to how “everyone has probably done something against the law” and saying that the main difference is that she got caught.

As if the main difference isn’t that she was tormenting her own daughter. Probably, it appears, so she could also be there to comfort her. Also, she seems strangely interested in Lauryn’s boyfriend at the time, Owen.

Both potential origins for her actions are disturbing for very different reasons. To me, it seems mostly like a Münchhausen by Proxy situation, where the mother creates a situation where her daughter is dependent on her.

I especially liked Skye Borgman’s decision to have the mother speak of her love for her daughter, while showing some of the actual text messages she sent her daughter. Seeing the cruel words on screen made her spoken praise come across very hollow.

*Unknown Number spoilers end here*

Watch Unknown Number: The High School Catfish on Netflix now

Based on the trailer for this Netflix true crime documentary, I was not sure what to expect. Then again, you never do with Skye Borgman. Well, except that it will be something wild, and usually she manages to get interviews with all the key people.

This one is definitely no exception!

You will want to watch this Netflix documentary for the same reasons you should watch Abducted in Plain Sight (also from Skye Borgman) or a docuseries like Tiger King.

Yes, this new true crime documentary is that wild. And everyone involved is interviewed, so you will hear from all those affected by the cyber-bullying. Also, everyone will be talking about it!

Whether you know the facts of this case or not, it is fascinating to hear it directly from the people involved. Especially from the victims and the perpetrator.

Unknown Number: The High School Catfish is on Netflix from August 29, 2025.