Apple Cider Vinegar is a valuable lesson for true crime drama – and Ryan Murphy should take note

These titles, which have all been successful and celebrated in their own right, hopefully serve as a reminder to TV producers that the genre is called "true crime" and not "true violent crime", with some of the best stories steering well clear of gory details.

It's an epiphany I hope reaches Ryan Murphy specifically, whose anthology series Monsters arguably ranks as one of the most shamelessly sensationalised examples of spinning murder into money, to the benefit of no one (but the programme makers).

More often than not, true crime dramas inspired by murder cases fail to present a meaningful challenge for their creative team or anything intellectually nourishing to the viewers watching at home.

Instead, they typically tumble into one of two pitfalls, the first of which is exhibiting an obsession with disturbing killers and their crimes to the point of fetishisation (see the aforementioned Monsters: Dahmer and The Menendez Brothers).

Another example that comes to mind is HBO's dramatisation of The Staircase, previously a documentary series by the same name, which depicted three different disputed deaths for the late Kathleen Peterson (played by Toni Collette).

There's no doubt that Collette is a gifted actor, but on the third time watching her writhe around in a pool of blood, gutturally screaming and groaning, I had to wonder what exactly had compelled her to take the gig – and HBO to commission it.

The alternative trap that so many fall foul of is telling the story in such a way that it is virtually indistinguishable from the myriad fictional detective dramas that already dominate the schedules.

This approach is the lesser of two evils, generally being more respectful than the former, but still elicits great frustration with its lack of vision or ambition, not to mention its notable role in the homogenisation of our risk-averse entertainment landscape.

BBC One's Steeltown Murders, starring Philip Glenister and Steffan Rhodri, is a good example of this; well-acted and unglamorous, but ultimately perfunctory and a bit dull, lacking any boldness or sense of purpose.

With the television industry being squeezed financially, it seems a waste to devote precious time and resource to reconstructing murder cases that – while tragic – present nothing that viewers haven't seen before, perhaps dozens of times over.

In contrast to the moral quandaries and creative limitations that come with drudging up real-life killings, the recent wave of alternative crime dramas are able to experiment with style and tone, while still educating and shocking their audiences.

Netflix's Apple Cider Vinegar, about scammer Belle Gibson (Kaitlyn Dever), and Disney Plus hit The Dropout, chronicling the rise and fall of biotech CEO Elizabeth Holmes (Amanda Seyfried), both delve into jaw-dropping cases of deception on an epic scale.

The former, which became available to stream just this week, is acutely relevant to our current moment, touching on such hot-button issues as disinformation, social media addiction and the related urge to build an idealised online persona.

Meanwhile, both Dopesick and Mr Bates vs The Post Office expose the suffering endured by innocent people due to the condemnable actions of powerful corporations, simultaneously bringing attention to ongoing fights for justice.

Note also the wide chasm in tone between these projects, ranging from the darkly comedic (in Apple Cider Vinegar) to the infuriatingly tragic (in Dopesick), which illustrates the room for creative expression that real-life murder cases very rarely allow.

The front page headlines and enormous viewership achieved by ITV's Post Office four-parter is proof enough that true crime doesn't need an act of brutality to make an impact – but admittedly, these are sometimes relevant to a larger discussion.

For example, Ava DuVernay's stunning miniseries When They See Us covered the 1989 assault and rape of a Central Park jogger, but primarily focused on the racial discrimination against the five Black and Hispanic boys wrongly convicted of that crime (and its broader implications for policing and justice).

Additionally, BBC One drama Four Lives spotlighted accusations of institutionalised homophobia within the Metropolitan Police, after the force was criticised for its failure to act quickly in the case of serial killer Stephen Port, who preyed on users of a gay dating app.

Looking ahead, A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story seems poised to be another notable exception, with its central murder being the framing device for a sobering look at domestic abuse, sexism and classism, all of which still ravage British society 70 years later.

Clearly, murder stories can be timely, important and worth examining, but they don't always require a flashy adaptation that risks mythologising the killers, revelling in unspeakable details and possibly causing anguish for the families of victims.

That isn't to say that alternative crime stories are victimless – we know for a fact that they aren't – but stories like Apple Cider Vinegar and Mr Bates vs The Post Office are unique and specific in a way that more easily justifies revisiting them.

Moreover, they provide actionable information on their subjects, from the importance of being a discerning internet user and taking professional medical advice, to the signposting of ongoing campaigns for justice by wronged individuals.

Not to mention, they give us a welcome respite from the graphic depiction of violent crime, which is considerably more disturbing (and in some cases, unhealthily obsessed over) in factual dramas than in their fictional counterparts.

Let Apple Cider Vinegar, the latest success in this growing trend, be the herald of yet more exciting, thought-provoking stories that venture beyond the most depraved true crimes – for both the long-term health of the genre and the betterment of our media diet.

Apple Cider Vinegar is available to stream on Netflix.

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