10 Things You Need To Know About The Documentary No One Saw A Thing

This six-episode true-crime docuseries comes from Sundance TV and premiered last August. No One Saw A Thing centers around the 1981 murder of Ken Rex McElroy in Skidmore Missouri and other crimes committed in the town and surrounding area over the years.

Each episode is around 40 minutes each and contains dramatic and intimate interviews with residents of Skidmore and others connected to it. Here are ten things you should know about No One Saw A Thing.

10 It Deals With A Wide Variety Of Crimes

From murders and disappearances to drug trafficking, this documentary examines a lot of criminal activity that happened in Skidmore and the surrounding areas.

In some cases, the crimes were committed by individuals who would eventually fall victim to crime themselves; such was the case for Ken Rex McElroy who was indicted for twenty-one crimes and only convicted once before his death.

9 “In Broad Daylight”

A book titled In Broad Daylight by Harry N. MacLean was the first to detail the story of McElroy’s murder, and soon after a made-for-tv film by the same name was released.

While the book discusses the events and circumstances surrounding Skidmore in great detail, the movie offers a fictionalized version of what happened and had different names for each of the people involved. No One Saw A Thing brings audiences back to the real residents of Skidmore and examines their first-hand accounts, which gives the story much more authenticity than ever before.

8 It Details The History Of The Town

This docuseries not only covers the recent history of Skidmore, but it also takes a look back on the origins of the town in the mid-1800s, and plays into the idea that the spirit of “wild west” vigilantism present in United States history could still be found in some parts of the country today, including the town.

One episode touches on one of the first notable instances of violent crime in the area: the lynching of Raymond Gunn, who was killed before he was given a trial for the murder of a schoolteacher, which occurred only a few miles away from Skidmore during the 1930s.

7 The Director Calls It An “Allegory For Violence In America”

Israeli director Avi Belkin would begin directing No One Saw A Thing three years after first reading about McElroy’s murder in a newspaper.

In an interview for The Wrap, he discusses how the supposed idea of peaceful small-town living starkly contrasts with the violent crimes that have occurred in Skidmore, the particular “arbitrary” brand of violence in the U.S. and the “corrosive nature” of vigilantism. He also describes his eerie impression of the town.

6 Two Crimes Remain Unsolved

Out of the many crimes that are covered in the series, there are two that occurred right in Skidmore that remain unsolved. So far since the series aired, there have been no new leads on both of these cold cases.

The fact that a small town of a couple hundred would be the site of two unsolved mysteries between the early 80s and the early 2000s is remarkable and a testament to the “dark cloud” of crime that hangs over Skidmore.

5 It Examines Vigilantism

One of the main themes of the docuseries is vigilantism and whether or not it can be justified in the situation of Skidmore Missouri. Vigilantism deals with people taking the law into their own hands to seek justice when the legal system and state fail to provide it.

The documentary details the ways in which law enforcement failed to protect the residents of Skidmore from danger, but it also suggests that the townspeople involved opened a pandora’s box. While director Avi Belkin seems to assess that vigilantism helped to create a culture of violence in Skidmore, there are still some interviewees in No One Saw A Thing that feel otherwise.

4 It’s A Real “Daylight Horror”

Much like a fictional ‘daylight’ horror film, what makes this docuseries all the more disturbing is the fact that all of the crimes detailed in the episodes happened in broad daylight in a small town of fewer than three hundred people. No One Saw A Thing illustrates that sometimes reality can defy expectations when it comes to what people think of as frightening or comfortable.

Danger is thought to lurk in the shadows of the night or on dark city streets rather than the dirt roads of sunshine-filled farm towns. Groupthink and its dangers have often been the subject of horror films, and similarly, this documentary calls into question whether the townspeople were banding together to protect their community against criminals, or ultimately fostering a culture of silence, fear, and paranoia against one another.

3 Blumhouse Was Involved In Its Production

Jason Blum was an executive producer for No One Saw A Thing along with Belkin, and Blumhouse was the main production company involved in its creation. The company has built a reputation for churning out popular horror films and thriller dramas with small budgets, beginning with the Paranormal Activity series and most recently The Invisible Man.

Although this series is a documentary, it has a lot of horror movie elements and viewers can see how Blumhouse may have influenced the unsettling and creepy tones and moods throughout the episodes.

2 It Uses Archival Footage From “60 Minutes”

Like many documentaries, No One Saw A Thing utilizes a lot of archival footage throughout its narrative. In particular, a segment from 60 Minutes featuring journalist Morley Safer is used frequently throughout the film.

Safer is shown interviewing the townspeople of Skidmore just a year or so after McElroy’s murder occurred. After the first murder garnered national media attention, the town became the subject of the true-crime spotlight continuously when several other major crimes occurred in the years that followed. Unsurprisingly, the town of Skidmore Missouri has grown a reputation for violent crimes since then.

1 You’ll Need A Subscription To AMC To Watch

This docuseries comes from Sundance TV, and since Sundance TV is owned by AMC, you can watch No One Saw A Thing with an AMC subscription or a Sundance Now subscription.

Otherwise, you’ll need cable provider information to stream it directly on the Sundance TV website. You can also stream No One Saw A Thing on Amazon Prime with a Doc Club subscription.

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