Netflix is fabulous at streaming shows that give us chills—think Black Mirror, The Sinner and The End of the F***ing World. And now, they’ve upped the ante, because why stop at fiction?
Yep, Netflix’s The Push (originally Pushed To The Edge, screened on the UK's Channel 4 in 2016) is dark as always, but it’s a doco: AKA it uses real-life people. People who don’t even know that they’re in a show.
Without giving too much away, here’s the premise: magician and sociologist Derren Brown tries to discover how far people will go when they’re under peer pressure. Sounds innocent enough, right? Wrong. He takes one poor sod, who has no idea he's being filmed, and puts him under increasing pressure to perform acts that are morally questionable (ok, downright wrong).
It’s quite the ordeal, with literally dozens of actors who set an elaborate scene. Then, they proceed to take the person through carefully structured tasks that will have your stomach in knots and make you feel totally gross. And, it’s not a spoiler to share that the final task involves murder. Will people, in the right circumstances actually kill someone?
You think humanity is good, that people will make the right decisions at the right time, but The Push will have you question everything you thought you knew.
The show has had a fair bit of criticism online (understandably) but trust us when we say that once you start watching, you won’t be able to stop.
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Image credit: Derren Brown