Lauryn Licari
Self
Overview
Vulgar, taunting texts blow up the phones of a teen and her boyfriend. Who's sending them — and why? This twisty documentary reveals the shocking answer.
Cast
12 people
Reviews
5 min readThe Mother of All Lies
I kept waiting for the moment when Unknown Number: The High School Catfish would stop feeling like a documentary and start feeling like a horror movie. It never quite did. Instead, it lingered in that unsettling space between true crime and psychological thriller, where the scariest monster isn’t some shadowy stranger but the person sitting across the dinner table.
Skye Borgman’s latest Netflix offering is a masterclass in tension—less for its craft than for its refusal to let you look away, even when you want to.
The film opens with a simple, chilling premise: Lauryn Licari and her boyfriend Owen McKenny, two teenagers in the small town of Beal City, Michigan, begin receiving a barrage of anonymous, sexually explicit, and violently threatening texts. The messages escalate from taunts to outright commands—"KILL YOURSELF B----"—and the film’s early minutes play like a digital-age slasher flick, complete with distorted voiceovers reading the texts in a tone that’s equal parts dismissive and menacing.
Borgman leans into the mystery, framing the story as a whodunnit where the suspects could be anyone: jealous classmates, a scorned ex, or even a stranger lurking in the digital ether. The audience is invited to play detective, parsing clues alongside the victims and the increasingly desperate law enforcement officials.
But the real gut punch comes midway through, when the film reveals the perpetrator isn’t some faceless troll but Kendra Licari—Lauryn’s own mother. The moment is delivered with the precision of a horror jump scare, and it lands with the same visceral impact. One minute, Kendra is on screen, tearfully insisting she’d do anything to protect her daughter; the next, the film overlays her words with the vile texts she sent, her claims of love rendered hollow by the cruelty of her actions.
It’s a devastating juxtaposition, and Borgman milks it for all its worth. As Heaven of Horror’s Karina Adelgaard put it, the effect is “truly shocking and absolutely wild,” a moment where the film’s emotional stakes snap into sharp relief.
Audience Opinions
Audience 6.2/10
"A sobering but uneven look at high school catfishing that resonates more as a cautionary tale than a polished documentary."
The film effectively highlights the emotional toll of digital deception, with raw performances from the young cast drawing sympathy. latestnetflix.com's take is that however, pacing issues and a lack of deeper investigative depth leave some viewers wanting more substance beyond the surface drama.
What viewers praise
- Emotionally raw performances The young cast, particularly Lauryn Licari and Owen McKenny, deliver authentic portrayals of teenage vulnerability and manipulation.
- Relevant subject matter The documentary tackles a timely issue, making it relatable for audiences familiar with social media risks.
- Cautionary impact The story serves as a stark warning about the dangers of online anonymity and catfishing.
Common complaints
- Uneven pacing Some segments drag, while others feel rushed, disrupting the flow of the narrative.
- Lacks depth The documentary skims the surface of the psychological and legal complexities behind catfishing.
- Repetitive moments Certain themes and scenes are revisited without adding new insights, testing viewer engagement.
Recommended for
Teens and parents Social media safety advocates True crime documentary fans High school drama viewers
Full Plot (Spoilers)
Spoiler warning
This section contains the full plot, including major story reveals. Overview above stays spoiler-free.
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsInside Unknown Number: The High School Catfish—Netflix’s Latest True-Crime Doc from Abducted in Plain Sight Director
Skye Borgman’s chilling documentaries have a knack for exposing the dark underbelly of suburban life, and her latest, Unknown Number: The High School Catfish (2025), promises to be no different. The Netflix film dives into a modern-day nightmare: a high school catfishing scheme that spiraled into psychological torment, family fractures, and legal chaos. With Borgman at the helm—fresh off the success of Abducted in Plain Sight—this project is already generating buzz for its raw, latestnetflix.com maintains, unflinching look at digital deception among teens.
A Family Affair: The Licari-McKenny Connection
One of the most striking details about Unknown Number is its cast, which reads like a real-life drama pulled straight from the headlines. The film stars Lauryn Licari, Owen McKenny, and their siblings—Shawn Licari and Kendra Licari—alongside Dave and Jill McKenny, Owen’s parents. The Licari and McKenny families appear to be at the center of the catfishing scandal, suggesting the documentary may explore how the scheme tore through their lives 
.
What makes this casting unusual is the level of personal involvement. True-crime docs often rely on reenactments or interviews with victims, but Unknown Number seems to blur the line between subject and storyteller. The presence of multiple family members—including parents—hints at a deeply intimate, possibly contentious, retelling of events. Rumor has it that the film’s production was fraught with tension, as relatives clashed over how much to reveal [unconfirmed].
Borgman’s Signature Style: Uncomfortable Truths
Skye Borgman has built a reputation for documentaries that leave audiences squirming, and Unknown Number appears to follow that playbook. Her 2017 film Abducted in Plain Sight shocked viewers with its portrayal of a family’s blind trust in a predator, and The Girl in the Picture (2022) unraveled a decades-old identity fraud case with jaw-dropping twists. This new project seems poised to deliver the same unsettling mix of psychological manipulation and systemic failure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9gNXyfTK80
The trailer , which dropped earlier this year, teases a high-stakes mystery: a fake online persona, a web of lies, and a community left reeling. Clips show tense confrontations, tearful confessions, and the kind of eerie reenactments Borgman favors—think dimly lit hallways, flickering screens, and the sound of a phone buzzing with a message from an "unknown number." The film’s French title, Numéro inconnu : Textos toxiques au lycée ("Unknown Number: Toxic Texts at High School"), underscores the toxic fallout of the scheme .
Soundtrack and Reception: Early Reactions
While reviews are still rolling in, early ratings suggest Unknown Number won’t be a crowd-pleaser in the traditional sense. On SensCritique, the film holds a 6.2/10 based on 262 votes, with some viewers calling it "disturbing but necessary" . Rotten Tomatoes’ listing, however, names a different cast (Victoria Baxter, Pierre Alexandre, Vincent Corso), which may be a placeholder or error—given the Netflix trailer and other sources confirm the Licari-McKenny lineup .
The documentary’s soundtrack, composed for Netflix, has also surfaced online, though details about the score remain scarce. The album listing suggests a moody, atmospheric vibe, likely designed to amplify the film’s tension .
Why This Story Resonates Now
Catfishing isn’t new, but Unknown Number arrives at a time when digital deception is more pervasive—and more damaging—than ever. With teens spending upwards of seven hours a day online, the film’s exploration of how a single fake account can unravel lives feels timely. Borgman’s approach, which often focuses on the ripple effects of trauma, could make this more than just a cautionary tale. If the trailer is any indication, it’s a deep dive into how easily trust can be weaponized, and how hard it is to rebuild once it’s broken.
For now, the full story remains under wraps until the film’s Netflix premiere. But if Borgman’s past work is any indication, Unknown Number won’t just shock viewers—it might leave them questioning their own digital footprints.
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.
Similar Movies
Related titles ranked by rating and popularity.
