There probably hasn’t been a more iconic actress since Marilyn Monroe. And unfortunately, her death also has been a popular debate for sixty years now. Many people have documented, researched, and published their notes about her death. But never has there been a way to approach her death like The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes does.

Let us take a look at what differentiates the new Netflix documentaries from the dozen others.

What makes The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes special

The tragic and mysterious death of the super successful actress Marilyn Monroe has been part of many documentaries. But the reason Netflix’s new documentary is different from others is also the reason why filmmaker Emma Cooper decided to direct the film.

Initially, the director, too, did not want to adapt Anthony Summers’s book into a documentary. However, her whole perception of the actress, her death, and Anthony’s book changed when she heard the audio tapes.

“He played some [of the tapes] to us, and we suddenly thought, Wow, we’re actually there—inside the investigation,” says Copper.

The recording included conversations with John Huston, Billy Wilder, Monroe’s psychiatrist Ralph Greenson’s immediate family, and Eunice Murray, the housekeeper who found Monroe’s death. Summers talked with a variety of people, many of whom have since deceased, about their personal memories of Monroe.

The documentary The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes, utilizes them to create a new portrayal of Monroe. And gives us a fresh perspective on the life and death of the actress.

The intimacy she heard on the cassettes astounded the director, and she spent a year going over them. Cooper videotaped recreations of the talks, with actors dressed in period costumes reenacting the calls with Summers. This was done to make the audio more visually interesting for her documentary.

The director that this new film really captures the essence of Monroe and shows her real self for the first time. She says, “you feel like you are in a Marilyn bubble for 90-something minutes; you are with her.”

Stream the new documentary only on Netflix. And let us know if you liked it.