5 most chilling scenes from Chris Watts: Confessions of a Killer

Lifetime tackles the infamous Watts family murder in their new film, Chris Watts: Confessions of a Killer. We’re recapping the film’s most chilling scenes.

Chris Watts: Confessions of a Killer chronicles the build-up to the tragic Watts family murders. Chris Watts murdered his pregnant wife and two children, and then admitted to it during the police questioning. For those who are interested in learning more about the horrific true story, Oxygen posted a handy guide to which details were real and which were fake.

For the most part, the movie was a fairly accurate representation of the events leading up to the killings. We’re taking a look at some of the most chilling moments from the film.

5. Chris begins to cheat on his wife.

Maybe Chris cheating on his wife isn’t as chilling as it is a sign of his jerk behavior leading up to his wife’s murder, but Chris seems to show no real care for his wife’s feelings or emotional state. He shows no interest in his unborn son and begins to have an affair without worrying about how it could affect his family.

He lies to Nikki about the status of his marriage and tells her he loves her. It became apparent that one of the reasons he was motivated to kill his family is because he thought it would easily clear a path to a new life with Nikki.

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4. Chris maintains his composure when his wife goes missing.

When Shanann goes “missing,” one of her friends shows up at the Watts household to search for her. She grows worried after Shanann doesn’t show up for a doctor’s appointment and notices that her car is still in the driveway. She calls the police, and we watch as the cop investigates the perimeter of the house with his body cam.

Eventually, Chris arrives home and acts like he has no idea what happened to his wife or children. It’s very disconcerting. He shows zero emotion and seems more bothered by the fact he has to go through an investigation than anything. Anyone who saw how he was acting would notice the red flags.

3. Chris gives interviews to the media.

Once news of Shanann, Bella, and Celeste’s disappearance went national, news stations and reporters showed up at the Watts home to question Chris about his family. Like we’ve already mentioned, he is cold, detached, and doesn’t look like a mourning husband in the interviews he gives in the film.

It’s uncomfortable to watch, knowing that he had killed his family and hidden their bodies already while trying to pretend he had no clue what happened.

2. Chris undergoes a polygraph test.

Chris was brazen enough to undergo a polygraph test, thinking that he would somehow be able to pass it despite everything he was hiding. Of course, he fails the test, and he claims the reason is that he was having an affair, and he held it back due to feelings of shame.

But then the detectives reveal that they already knew about the affair, Nikki called and confessed to it. So, the only thing they didn’t know for sure was that he had murdered his family. The polygraph test brought them closer to his confession.

1. The murder reenactment.

I’m not sure how I feel about the explicit murder reenactment Lifetime showed. I don’t know if it was necessary to show in its full extent. However, I can’t deny that it was chilling to watch. We see what made Chris snap and reach his breaking point.

One of the saddest moments comes when the detectives discuss the case and the reason Shanann didn’t fight him, up until her final moments, she was convinced that he would let go of her.

Lifetime’s Ripped from the Headlines line-up continues next Saturday at 8 p.m. ET with Poisoned Love: The Stacey Castor Story.