Watch The Jinx | Sky Cinema (2024)

What is The Jinx about?

Fully titled The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst, this Emmy-winning six-part documentary series follows three mysterious deaths, all attached to an eccentric heir to a billion-dollar real estate empire.

Robert, born 1943, first caught the attention of the police as a suspect in the 1982 disappearance of his first wife, Kathie McCormack. In 2000, he became a central suspect again after the murder of Susan Berman, a close friend who was killed execution-style at her home on Christmas Eve 2000.

In October 2001, just 10 months after Berman’s death, Durst’s neighbour Morris Black was killed and dismembered in Texas, and yet Durst was acquitted at trial.

In a wild turn of events, a Ryan Gosling movie eight years later proved to be the catalyst for a chain of events that eventually sent Durst to jail forever.

Through a series of interviews, dramatic reconstructions, archival footage and police evidence, The Jinx creators piece together how entangled Durst was in the three deaths, looking into his entire life from the start.

Central to the documentary were intimate discussions with Durst himself, who had never been convicted, nor spoken publicly about the accusations made against him at that time.

As experts start giving their insight, and the net begins to close in, a major slip-up by Durst unwittingly provides shocking results that blow the murder cases wide open.

Season one follows the case up until 2014, while season two tracks the eight years after the game-changing original documentary series.

How many episodes of The Jinx are there?

The Jinx season one ran for six episodes, tracking the life of Robert Durst through flashbacks and interviews with those involved.

Each episode ran between 36 minutes to 49 minutes in length, and originally ran on HBO in the United States from February 8th to March 15th, 2015.

The second season will also consist of six episodes, and will air weekly from April 22nd.

Where to watch The Jinx in the UK

Sky is the exclusive home of The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst – with all episodes of season one available now.

You can watch the series on Sky Documentaries, on demand via Sky Go or by streaming on NOW.

Season two launched on Sky Documentaries and NOW from Monday, April 22 with new episodes airing weekly through to May 27.

How celebrated was The Jinx’s first season?

The first season of The Jinx became an international hit – gaining recognition at a time where true crime documentaries were far more rare, let alone major talking points on the news.

To date, the six episodes all maintain high ratings on IMDb, scoring an overall average of 8.6 over 51,000 viewer scores.

The finale has been rated at 9.4/10.

As the results of the series sparked fresh investigation, the creative team were celebrated at major awards ceremonies.

Among their recognition, they earned six Primetime Emmy nominations, winning two including Outstanding documentary or non-fiction series.

Other wins include a Peabody Award, and Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials at the Television Critics Association.

What happened in The Jinx: Part Two?

Just hours before the final episode of The Jinx aired, Durst was arrested and charged for the murder of Susan Berman.

In the immediate aftermath, the filmmakers continued their investigation for the next eight years, providing the basis for The Jinx: Part Two.

This includes never-before-seen material, prison calls made by Durst, and brand new interviews with people who had never before come forward until the original series aired.

It’s public knowledge that in October 2021, Durst was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of Berman.

By that point Durst was 78 years old, and had managed to evade justice for the crime for nearly 21 years.

He was also in failing health, having been diagnosed with a string of illnesses including bladder cancer, for which he was receiving treatment.

In an unexpected twist for the creators, the release of The Jinx and what it revealed turns the documentary itself into a central part of the story. This is something also explored in part two as the filmmakers become the filmed.

What are the reviews of The Jinx?

The Jinx season one was heavily praised and still stands at a staggering 96% on review aggregate site, Rotten Tomatoes.

Here are some of the reviews:

The Guardian

“The Jinx’s magic lies in having made such unbelievable circ*mstance chillingly real.” (Full Review Here)

Entertainment Weekly

“The Jinx might make amateur sleuths of us all. But judging by this gripping, stranger-than-fiction detective story, Jarecki’s the real thing.” (Full Review Here)

Yahoo TV

“If you have any interest in true-crime stories, I’d imagine The Jinx will satisfy your craving sumptuously. If, like me, you’re skeptical of the genre, The Jinx might make you rethink the worthiness of it. Me, I'm now a convert.” (Full Review Here)

TIME Magazine

“You could be forgiven for believing that The Jinx was fiction; it packages its material into one of TV's most addictive stories using the tools and artistry of crime drama.” (Full Review Here)

The AV Club

Season two has also fared well, earning 89% on Rotten Tomatoes as critics agreed the continuation of the story was just as compelling as the first.

CNN

“This nine-years-later continuation again proves quite compelling, thanks not only to the late Durst’s idiosyncrasies but the “Star Wars” cantina of odd characters that surrounded him.” (Full Review Here)

IndieWire

“The Jinx: Part Two becomes an extraordinary specimen, a piece of TV in which the show and its creators have become part of the unbelievable, sprawling narrative that starts and ends with Durst.” (Full Review Here)

Roger Ebert

“Jarecki proves himself as good as it gets in the true crime docuseries genre, deftly constructing his episodes in a way that doesn’t just provide details but places them in the context of this defiantly strange story.” (Full Review Here)

NPR

“As it turns out, there’s a great story in the continued telling of the Robert Durst saga – and there are some lessons to be learned, too.” (Full Review Here)

The Jinx is available to watch exclusively on Sky Crime, Sky Documentaries, and NOW