The Surveillance Report: New True Crime Documentary Releases – December 2025 Edition
- The Emerald Sleuth
- Nov 29
- 5 min read
Updated: 59 minutes ago
December arrives with cold nights, warm lights, and a noticeably thinner lineup. Networks lean into holiday programming this month, leaving the crime beat quieter than usual, but not silent. What does surface carries a different kind of tension: the slow-burn mysteries, year-end premieres, and odd one-offs that slip in just before the calendar turns. This serves as your final monthly briefing of the year, a tidy dossier of what’s new, what’s worth noting, and what’s landing on your watchlist before the clock runs out. Don’t forget to cast your vote at the bottom of the page for the program or documentary you’re most excited to stream.
Disclaimer: I have not viewed any of the documentaries listed in this post. All descriptions and details have been compiled from official press releases, streaming platform announcements, and other publicly available sources. Information is accurate to the best of my knowledge at the time of writing.
All the Empty Rooms
Release Date: December 1, 2025
No of Episodes: 1 (documentary short)
Platform: Netflix
This short documentary follows journalist Steve Hartman and photographer Lou Bopp as they visit the preserved childhood bedrooms of children who were killed in school shootings. The film travels to families across the United States and focuses on memory, loss, and the physical spaces loved ones leave behind.
Sean Combs: The Reckoning
Release Date: December 2, 2025
No of Episodes: 4
Platform: Netflix
This four-part documentary examines the public and private life of Sean Combs, including his career in the music industry and the allegations, lawsuits, and criminal proceedings that have defined his recent years. The series presents interviews, archival material, and reporting focused on the legal, cultural, and institutional issues surrounding the case.
Murdering Love
Release Date: December 4, 2025
No of Episodes: 4
Platform: Viaplay (Access via the Viaplay channel on Amazon Prime Video, Xfinity, Roku, Xumo, Sling, etc.)
This true crime docuseries examines four real cases in which relationships deteriorate into violence, focusing on how romantic partnerships shift from affection to control, betrayal, and deadly outcomes. Each episode explores a different Swedish region and follows investigators, witnesses, and families as they recount the events and evidence that shaped each case.
Two episodes premiere on December 4, with the remaining two episodes available on December 11. Swedish with English subtitles.
Fugue State 1986
Release Date: December 4, 2025
No of Episodes: TBD
Platform: Netflix
This scripted true crime docudrama is inspired by the 1986 Bogotá massacre carried out by Vietnam War veteran Campo Elías Delgado. The series is presented in Spanish, and the availability of dubbing or alternate audio tracks has not yet been confirmed. The narrative follows the events leading up to the killings and depicts the social and psychological context surrounding the case, using dramatized scenes based on publicly known information.
PREDATORS
Release Date: December 8, 2025
No of Episodes: 1 (feature doc-film)
Platform: Paramount+
This documentary film examines the legacy of the TV series To Catch a Predator, exploring its cultural impact, the controversies it stirred, and how it shaped public and legal discourse around online predation. The film offers investigative context by revisiting the show’s history and its consequences, using archival footage, interviews, and documented evidence.
Stolen Children
Release Date: December 12, 2025
No. of Episodes: 1 (feature-length doc)
Platform: HBO Max
Added 12-14-25
This feature-length documentary (1 hour 38 minutes) investigates a large-scale black market operation that spanned from the 1970s through the mid-2000s, in which an estimated 100,000 newborns were stolen from maternity wards and illegally sold to adoptive families. Mothers were falsely told their babies had died, and the infants’ bodies were never returned.
The film follows multiple personal and investigative threads, including a journalist uncovering her own adoption and exposing the criminal networks involved. Stolen Children examines the long-term trauma experienced by families and the systemic failures that allowed the practice to persist for decades.
No trailer available.
Charmed by the Devil
Release Date: December 13, 2025
No of Episodes: 1 (true crime special)
Platform: Oxygen/Peacock
Added: 12-6-25
Charmed by the Devil airs on Oxygen as a two-hour, single-episode documentary special. The film follows journalist Laura Greenberg’s decades-long investigation into serial killer Doug Gretzler, tracing how hundreds of prison visits, letters, and more than 500 hours of recorded conversations gradually blur the boundary between reporter and subject. After its Oxygen premiere, the documentary will also stream on Peacock.
The Secrets We Bury
Release Date: December 16, 2025
No of Episodes: 1 (true crime special)
Platform: Investigation Discovery (ID)
This true crime special follows Mike Carroll as he investigates the decades-old disappearance of his father, George Carroll, who walked out on the family in the early 1960s. The program documents how the Carroll siblings, still seeking closure after many years, confront long-held questions about what happened to their father. As Mike retraces the history of the case and examines the evidence, he uncovers a story far darker and more complex than the family ever expected.
The Secrets We Bury will premiere on Tuesday, December 16 on ID at 9pm ET and will be available to stream on HBO Max.
Murder in Monaco
Release Date: December 17, 2025
No. of Episodes: 1 (feature doc-film)
Platform: Netflix
Set in Monaco in 1999, this documentary examines the death of billionaire banker Edmond Safra, who was found dead inside his penthouse. The film outlines the known evidence, the circumstances leading up to his death, and the questions that emerged around the case. The program draws on archival material and interviews to document what authorities established at the time.
Obsession: The Murder of a Beauty Queen
Release Date: December 17, 2025
No. of Episodes: 3
Platform: Max
Added 12-14-25
This HBO Original true crime docuseries is structured as a three-part investigation. While the title is not listed on HBO’s linear broadcast schedule, it is confirmed across multiple platform listings as a Max-exclusive release.
At this time, HBO has not released an official synopsis, episode runtimes, or case details. No trailer or key art is available. Additional information is expected closer to release.
Cover-Up
Release Date: December 26, 2025
No of Episodes: 1 (feature documentary film)
Platform: Netflix
This documentary charts the career of journalist Seymour Hersh, exploring his decades-long reporting on government misconduct, institutional abuses, and wartime atrocities. The film draws on Hersh’s archive, previously classified documents, and interviews to examine how secrecy, power, and accountability intersect in modern history.
Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story
Release Date: December 30, 2025
No of Episodes: 1 (documentary film)
Platform: Netflix
This documentary looks at the case of Utah therapist Jodi Hildebrandt, whose child abuse arrest with parenting YouTuber Ruby Franke exposed what Netflix describes as a “twisted tale of manipulation.” The film focuses on the events surrounding the case and Hildebrandt’s role in it, as presented in the documentary.
No trailer available at this time.
New True Crime Documentary Releases December 2025 – Final Thoughts
December stays on the quieter side this year, with a smaller but more focused set of true crime premieres. It’s one of those rare months where the schedule eases up a little, giving everyone space to catch their breath (or finally make a dent in the watchlist before January hits). Streaming platforms sometimes add surprise titles close to release, so this page will be updated if anything new appears. There are also three upcoming documentaries currently listed only by title. Once networks release verified details, this page will be updated. Check back after the first or second week of December for those additions.
Which December releases are you checking out first? Cast your vote below and see what the rest of The Society has queued up.
If you missed any of November’s releases, you can find the full list here.
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Case closed.🔍 Verdict delivered. ⚖️
Stay hydrated.💧 Snow melts fast. Paper trails are forever.❄️
🕵️♀️ The Emerald Sleuth, calling it a night. 💚
Which new true crime doc release tops your list? Vote below.
All the Empty Rooms
Sean Combs: The Reckoning
Murdering Love
Fugue State 1986