The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker

2023

Action / Crime / Documentary

8
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 45% · 14 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 45% · 250 ratings
IMDb Rating 6.2/10 10 14552 14.6K

california sensation hitchhiker hatchet true crime viral

Plot summary

After Kai saves a woman's life, he turns into an overnight hero and viral sensation — until disturbing truths about his erratic behavior come to light. This shocking documentary chronicles a happy-go-lucky nomad's ascent to viral stardom and the resulting steep downward spiral.

720p.WEB 1080p.WEB 2160p.WEB
806.89 MB
1280*720
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us   ar   cn   hr   cz   dk   nl   es   fi   fr   de   gr   il   hu   id   it   ja   kr   ms   no   pl   pt   ro   ru   sv   th   tr   uk   vi  
23.976 fps
1 hr 27 min
Seeds 1
1.61 GB
1920*1080
English 5.1
NR
Subtitles us   ar   cn   hr   cz   dk   nl   es   fi   fr   de   gr   il   hu   id   it   ja   kr   ms   no   pl   pt   ro   ru   sv   th   tr   uk   vi  
23.976 fps
1 hr 27 min
Seeds 2
3.9 GB
3840*2160
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
N/A
Seeds 3

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by tuggyb 6 / 10

A Sad Cautionary Tale

On the surface, this doc charts the viral popularity of Kai, but really it's about the insidious, predatory nature of parasites who deliberately ignored his VERY obvious mental illness to exploit him for their own gain. The warning signs were there from the minute the cameras started rolling - this is a deeply unwell young man who seems unable to parse reality from delusion, and his story inevitably ends in violence. But hey, he gets clicks so the Kardashian producers want to give him a reality TV show. He looks uncomfortable, like a caged animal in a zoo, but I want a selfie to show my friends. Most of the interviews are industry people detailing the various ways they tried to profit off of him while ignoring glaringly obvious red flags, with few if any showing remorse or even self-awareness. This doc also borders on exploitative, but it has value as a satire of our celebrity-obsessed culture and flippant attitude towards mental illness. I'm just not sure that was the goal.
Reviewed by tupkczavvn 3 / 10

Shallow and morally reprehensible.

Everyone who came into contact with this vulnerable, profoundly unwell man should be ashamed of themselves. How did any of these blood-suckers think participating in this documentary was a good idea? If I participated in the exploitation of this young man, you better bet I would hide that fact from the world until the day I died. The unbridled glee that all these media figures have when recalling their time with Kai is disgusting. There is no self-reflection. No sense of responsibility. No question of what kind of role they played in Kai's downward spiral. NOTHING. They just cared about how they can monetize his existence and enable his dysfunctional behavior. If all of that doesn't sound stomach-turning enough, there is also an overwhelming amount of stigma and disdain for unhoused people. Half of this documentary is remarkably tone-deaf exploitation and the other half is your standard, unreliable Copaganda garbage. I almost turned it off as soon as the East Cost cops show up. Everyone was so quick to embrace Kai as a Meme Hero and then immediately wash their hands of him. Shame on you, random Fresno Nobody Sports Reporter for riding a mentally ill man's coattails to a career you don't deserve.
Reviewed by atleverton 7 / 10

When Mental Illness is Ignored

This is the story of a man with deep-seated psychological problems who became a meme and ultimately a convicted murderer. So the story of this man is not hidden from the audience as they view this documentary. He was a hitch-hiker, and he was being driven by someone who then had an accident and in what appeared to be a fit of murderous racist rage decided to kill the other participant in the accident. Caleb, the protagonist of the story, then decided to hop out of the truck and rescue the victim of this attack by attacking the man with an axe. He then gave an interview with a local news station which then went viral. Then he got a lot of offers to become rich and famous including having his own reality TV show. But ultimately he was unwell, and this was apparent to anyone who spent any time with him. I think the documentary wants us to ask ourselves what happens if you make a person a meme. However, the brutal murder that Caleb was convicted of was not caused by him being a meme, nor was it caused by him being a quasi celebrity. It was caused because Caleb suffered abuse when he was younger, and he had severe psychological issues. And perhaps the story that Caleb told as his defence was actually true, that he was sexually assaulted and then snapped. I think that, unfortunately, the authorities are too quick to dismiss claims of sexual assault on men. I think the most bizarre aspect of this documentary was when they interviewed Caleb's mother, and she did not deny locking her son in a room when he was younger, but she confirmed it. It seems to me that if you are being accused of being an abuser, you would deny all aspects of the abuse story. But I think if she confirms that, then the implication must be that that part of Caleb's story is actually true. While this documentary is certainly not a must see by any stretch of the imagination, caleb's story is certainly an interesting and sad one.
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