If you were on the internet in 2016, you likely have heard of Sherri Papini. It was a classic true crime tale: a doting wife and mother with looks comparable to Barbie had mysteriously gone missing while on a run in her quiet California town, immediately sweeping the nation into searching and theorizing frenzy. Was it her husband, Keith? Or had the kidnapper who stole the life of 16-year-old Tera Smith in 1998 returned to Redding for another victim?
Flash forward to 2020—it turned out to be neither. The costly investigation by state and federal agents revealed that the only perpetrator was Sherri Papini herself.
Perfect Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance of Sherri Papini is Hulu’s three-part documentary that dives into the case that gave Gone Girl a run for its money. The documentary is presented sequentially, beginning with the morning of Sherri’s disappearance and concluding with a “where are they now?” segment featuring both Sherri, Keith, and their two children. Each episode includes commentary with the Papini’s family members and friends, along with exclusive CCTV footage from the investigation.
NeueHouse of Madison Square hosted a special early screening of the documentary, followed by a Q&A with Keith Papini & filmmakers Erin Lee Carr, Michael Beach Nichols, Allison Berkley, and Rob Ford.
“We wanted you to kind of experience what everyone in Redding and Keith were experiencing,” director Michael Keith Nichols shared when asked how the team made the decision to tell the 6-year long story. “So the first episode is sort of all about like the sort of mind fuck that Keith is in, everyone is viewing Keith as this suspect and he’s just trying to look for his wife. And then she comes back. And then the next, what you just saw is obviously a four year period of time from 2016 to 2020… And then the final episode is basically the final two years from 2020 to 2022. As they basically, he’s finally learns the truth after the six year experience.”
Perfect Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance of Sherri Papini is currently available for streaming on Hulu.