Crime documentaries invite the audience not just to witness events, but to diagnose them, to ask - how did this person become capable of this behavior? That psychological pull is undeniable. Now imagine that the person you once admired for family values or professional expertise ends up as the subject of one of those documentaries, not as a victim, but as an offender. 

Netflix’s Evil Influencer has just made that scenario real.

At the center of Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story are two women who once held authority in very different, but overlapping, spaces. It chronicles the chilling real-world case of Jodi Hildebrandt, a former therapist turned life coach, and Ruby Franke, a once-popular family YouTuber, both convicted of aggravated child a----. 

Jodi Hildebrandt was a licensed therapist and the founder of the life-coaching and counseling program ConneXions, widely promoted within Utah’s faith-based communities. Ruby Franke, meanwhile, was the face of the wildly popular YouTube family channel 8 Passengers, which amassed millions of subscribers by presenting a strict, values-driven version of family life. 

The documentary also includes interviews with law enforcement, experts, and former clients, including Jessica Bate, Eric Clarke, Ethan Prete, Valerie Jackson, Natasha Helfer, Laura Howells Leavitt, Kathy Kinghorn, and Christi Judd.

But the real question remains: How did two seemingly professional, influential people end up here on Netflix? 

 Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story does not rely on dramatic reenactments or sensational music cues. Instead, director Skye Borgman opted for a measured, procedural presentation of real evidence and testimony that underscores how a---- can unfold in the open. The documentary, which debuted on Netflix on December 30, 2025, uses a range of narrative tools, including police bodycam footage, security camera clips and jail audio recordings.

 In February 2024, they were each sentenced to 4 to 30 years in prison under Utah law. Evil Influencer forces viewers to confront an uncomfortable truth: authority without accountability can be just as dangerous as outright malice. When influence goes unchecked, the line between guidance and harm can disappear entirely.

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What do you think? Were the warning signs always there, or did the influence blind everyone watching? Share your thoughts.