Watch ‘Unmasking a Monster’: 5 easy, free-trial options
Want to watch “Unmasking a Monster: Aileen Wuornos”? All three parts of Investigation Discovery’s new docuseries premiered back to back Wednesday, Sept. 30, from 8 to 11 p.m. ET/PT on ID, and the series is available on HBO Max and on live TV services that carry ID, The Hollywood Reporter reported.
Where to watch ‘Unmasking a Monster’
HBO Max: The episodes stream live and on demand with an HBO Max subscription. HBO Max has no free trial of its own, but DirecTV’s Entertainment, Choice and Ultimate packages include three months of HBO Max at no extra cost, according to THR.
Live TV services to watch “Unmasking a Monster” on ID:
- DirecTV: ID is in all of DirecTV’s signature packages, and new subscribers get a five-day free trial. Build-your-own lineups start at $19.99 a month.
- Philo: Carries ID with a seven-day free trial, then $25 a month for 70-plus channels.
- Sling TV: ID is in both the Blue and Orange plans, each from $45.99 a month. Orange is also available as a $4.99 day pass, and the combined Orange & Blue plan starts at $60.99 a month.
- Hulu + Live TV: Includes ID, with a three-day free trial. Plans start at $89.99 a month and bundle Disney+ and ESPN+.
Prices and trial terms come from THR’s guide and can change, so check each service before signing up.
What the docuseries is about
The series revisits the life, crimes and capture of Aileen Wuornos, who killed seven men in Florida in 1989 and 1990, was sentenced to death for six of the murders and was executed in 2002. It asks whether she was an abused woman who struck back at violent men or a calculated killer who robbed her victims and eliminated witnesses, according to Tampa Free Press.
Actress Morag Peacock plays Wuornos, and the production used an AI-mask tool to make her look like the real woman, THR reported. ID says the digital replication and VFX are built on Peacock’s performance and grounded in verified transcripts, documented evidence and firsthand accounts, according to BroadwayWorld.
Interviewees include lead detectives David Taylor and Brian Jarvis, Lt. Mike Joyner, who worked undercover on the case, one of Wuornos’ lifelong friends and her former attorney. Arrow Media, a Fremantle company, produced the series for ID.
Why the AI approach is drawing attention
THR called the AI-mask approach a first for the industry, and the outlet separately interviewed Peacock, an executive producer and ID’s president about the decision. Viewers who watch “Unmasking a Monster” will see Peacock re-create moments that previously existed only in transcripts and recordings.
Before you watch ‘Unmasking a Monster’: The case in brief
Her victims were men she met along central Florida highways while working as a sex worker. Police arrested Wuornos in January 1991 at the Last Resort, a biker bar in Port Orange, Florida, after an undercover operation. Florida executed her by lethal injection on Oct. 9, 2002. She was 46 and had spent more than a decade on Florida’s death row.
Her story has been told on screen before. Charlize Theron won the best actress Oscar for playing Wuornos in the 2003 film “Monster,” and documentary filmmaker Nick Broomfield made two films about her, “Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer” (1992) and “Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer” (2003). What sets the ID series apart is its use of AI and VFX to put a face to firsthand accounts.
For more on infamous cases, read our look at five women whose crimes still haunt America, see “Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy” on Peacock or browse our TV and streaming coverage.