The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst: Season 1

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Generally favorable reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews

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Universal acclaim based on 48 Ratings

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8.2

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8.2	User Score Universal acclaim based on 48 Ratings

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Jinx: Life And Deaths Of Robert Durst: What the Hell Did I Do?

Now Playing: Jinx: Life And Deaths Of Robert Durst: What the Hell Did I Do?

The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst

Season Details & Credits

HBO | Season Premiere Date: February 8, 2015

Summary: The six-part documentary from Andrew Jarecki and Marc Smerling features interviews with New York City real estate heir Robert Durst, who was suspected (and acquitted in one case) of three murders.

Genre(s): Movie/Mini-Series, News/Documentary, Documentary

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Season 1 Episodes

tbd
S1:E6. The Second Interview
Air Date: March 15, 2015
tbd
S1:E5. Family Values
Air Date: March 8, 2015
tbd
S1:E4. The State of Texas vs. Robert Durst
Air Date: March 1, 2015

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Metascore

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Mixed:

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Critic Reviews

100

Uncle Barky Ed Bark

Feb 5, 2015

Intercut with brief, unobtrusive reenactments and accompanied by a dangerous-sounding music track, The Jinx very much looks like a masterwork of the true crime genre. Read full review

Dan Fienberg

Feb 7, 2015

"The Jinx" is an utterly compelling watch. Through the two episodes I've seen, it's chilling, emotional and occasionally morbidly funny and moves at a thrilling pace. Read full review

Rob Owen

Feb 5, 2015

Fans of podcast sensation “Serial” and anyone intrigued by a good character-driven murder mystery will want to jump on board HBO’s six-part documentary series The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst. Read full review

Ken Tucker

Feb 6, 2015

The filmmakers grant Durst his humanity, allowing us to see the charm, and occasional flashes of humor, that animate the man when he sometimes emerges from the fog of good fortune. In the two episodes I’ve seen, The Jinx makes good, sparing use of dramatizing some of the moments Durst describes. Read full review

Emily Nussbaum

Mar 26, 2015

The Jinx is wickedly entertaining: funny, morbid, and sad, at once exploitative and high-minded, a moral lasagna of questionable aesthetic choices (including reconstructions of ghastly events) and riveting interviews (of Durst, but also of other eccentrics, like his chain-smoking-hot second wife). Read full review

Joshua Alston

Feb 6, 2015

The Jinx continues the tradition of controversial stories too disturbing to invest in but too well-told to dismiss. Read full review

Matt Zoller Seitz

Feb 6, 2015

You never get the sense that the filmmaker is pushing beyond prurient interest to uncover a deeper truth, much less discovering something within the subject that makes him seem theoretically redeemable, or at least recognizably human. Read full review

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User Reviews

geewah

Feb 2, 2021

Compelling, chilling, weird.
This is one of the more bizarre murder mystery doco's you will see, and it will have you hooked.
The best docu-series of 2015.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Monkeywing

Mar 1, 2015

I am absolutely addicted to this show. I have never seen anything like it. Having seen All Good Things years before I was curious how this could possibly be a series. Once I saw the first episode I was even more curious, since it seemed they told us the whole story in the first episode.I am absolutely addicted to this show. I have never seen anything like it. Having seen All Good Things years before I was curious how this could possibly be a series. Once I saw the first episode I was even more curious, since it seemed they told us the whole story in the first episode. Every episode takes us further and further down a rabbit hole. This is a wild ride and I can't wait to watch the next episode.

My biggest frustration with this show is that no one I know is watching it. I am begging everyone to watch it, but either they don't have HBO or "don't like true crime." Watch this show! It is fantastic!… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

OpinionatedGuy

Apr 21, 2015

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I never really paid attention about this documentary series until a day before its finale aired when the subject of this docu-series Robert Durst was arrested on first degree murder charges. As more people talked about Robert Durst and the docu-series, I decided to check it out with little knowledge or little interest about Robert Durst. I predicted it's just about an old white dude who got out of an open and shut case because he is rich. That is a bad oversimplification about the documentary series because while it is essentially correct, there is more to the story and it's not only one open and shut case but three open and shut cases! That explains why it needed six episodes to tell the story about the life and deaths of Robert Durst.

What I loved about The Jinx is that it uses the information the filmmakers have about Robert Durst to tell a very serialized, compelling story. I do agree that it manipulated its viewers with the way it narrated the facts but that's the simplest yet clever way to tell the viewers and it doesn't change much about the truth about Durst and his involvement in three murder cases.

The Jinx has the best cinematography I have seen in a documentary. It actually enhances the viewing experience for me. I also liked how the re-enactment scenes is naturally cooperated to the docu-series.

My only problem I had with this docu-series is the crucial evidence they had on Robert Durst that was featured in the end of the docu-series in which in an audio file reveals that Robert Durst confessed that he "killed them all" in a bathroom by himself with a microphone that he forgot to give it to the filmmakers after his second interview. The docu-series was recorded on 2013 and the filmmakers had this evidence for a long time and it took them long to give the evidence to the police. I can't really believe the filmmakers' claim that they just only found it during post-production. It just seems a bit of a dick move made by them just to give more hype and suspense for the docu-series. At least Robert Durst is in big trouble now and the whole world knows it. Better late than never I guess.

Despite that problem and its manipulative use of its narrative, The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst is an excellent docu-series that tells the story about the life and deaths of Robert Durst in a serialized, compelling way.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

BogKid

Feb 9, 2015

I have seen only the first episode so this must be considered a very preliminary review. I remember Robert Durst when he was in the news, especially at the time of the sandwich theft incident. I had to see this documentary. So far, I am a bit disappointed since the opening show did veryI have seen only the first episode so this must be considered a very preliminary review. I remember Robert Durst when he was in the news, especially at the time of the sandwich theft incident. I had to see this documentary. So far, I am a bit disappointed since the opening show did very little to explain Durst's motivations, essentially how he got to be the Robert Durst we see here. I assume this will improve as the series moves onward but I felt that the initial episode did little to hook me into this story. I came to it already hooked, so I will certainly watch the balance of the series.… Expand

0 of 5 users found this helpful05

EPMD

Dec 11, 2016

This felt about 3 or 4 times as long as it should have been. The backing music was often irritating, especially the tinkling "mystery" music. The case was presented to viewers in a confusing manner. It felt like they were going for an artisitc/dramatic effect rather than just presenting aThis felt about 3 or 4 times as long as it should have been. The backing music was often irritating, especially the tinkling "mystery" music. The case was presented to viewers in a confusing manner. It felt like they were going for an artisitc/dramatic effect rather than just presenting a case in a straightforward manner and letting the story be the feature attraction. I am fascinated by cases such as this one, but the style of this series really disappointed me.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Seasons & Episodes

76

Series Overview
Season 1

76
- Season 1 Overview
  Air Date: February 8, 2015
- tbd
  S1:E6. The Second Interview
  Air Date: March 15, 2015
- tbd
  S1:E5. Family Values
  Air Date: March 8, 2015
- tbd
  S1:E4. The State of Texas vs. Robert Durst
  Air Date: March 1, 2015
- tbd
  S1:E3. The Gangster's Daughter
  Air Date: February 22, 2015
- tbd
  S1:E2. Poor Little Rich Boy
  Air Date: February 15, 2015
- tbd
  S1:E1. A Body in the Bay
  Air Date: February 8, 2015