Common Sense Media Review
By Melissa Camacho
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Violence, cursing, drugs, nudity in victim-focused drama.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 15+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
Adapted from the documentary John Wayne Gacy: Devil in Disguise, DEVIL IN DISGUISE: JOHN WAYNE GACY is a docudrama about the victims of one of the worst serial killers in U.S. history. On the evening of December 11, 1978, 15-year-old Rob Piest (Ryker Baloun) disappears from his job at a local Des Plaines, Illinois pharmacy after telling his mother Elizabeth (Marin Ireland) that he was going to speak to a contractor about a summer construction job. The next day she and her husband (Greg Bryk) report him missing and pressure Lt. Joe Kozenczak (James Badge Dale) to open an investigation. The lieutenant is convinced that Rob ran away, but assigns the case to Detective Rafael Tovar (Gabriel Luna), who, within hours, identifies local contractor John Wayne Gacy (Michael Chernus) as a suspect in Rob's disappearance. Within two weeks human remains are found buried in a crawl space under his house, and the serial killer admits to sexually assaulting young boys and men before strangling them. As police continue to dig up and identify the remains of 29 victims on his property and search for four bodies, including that of Rob Piest, in the river, defense attorney Sam Amirante (Michael Angarano) is doing everything he can to protect his uncooperative client. Meanwhile, the victims' families are going through unimaginable suffering, and prosecutor Bill Kunckle (Chris Sullivan) is building the state's case to ensure that the killer receives the death penalty. Throughout it all, flashbacks tell the stories of some of the victims, while archive photographs, news footage, and courtroom illustrations underscore the real people and events that inspired the series.
Is It Any Good?
The harrowing docudrama offers some insight into who John Wayne Gacy was and what he did while humanizing his victims. Some of the cast members are based on real people, but the series also features fictional characters meant to represent the broader experiences of the poor, troubled, and vulnerable young men, many of them LGBTQ+, whom the killer primarily targeted. It also addresses the systemic failures in Chicago's law enforcement at the time, which allowed him to live in plain sight. This includes their failure to share the killer's criminal past with other police departments, and its dismissal of male sexual assault victims and missing person reports because of the victims' ages, criminal histories, and sexuality. Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy's overall storytelling approach is less sensational than other serial killer-themed TV docudramas, but it still relies on detailed descriptions of violence and some gruesome imagery to establish the killer's psychopathy and the heinousness of his crimes. But it's the way the series portrays the suffering of his victims, their loved ones, and the photographic reminders of who they were that's the hardest to watch. It's a formula designed to remind us that every person's life has value and worth protecting, and of what can happen when we don't.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the amount of documentaries and docudramas about serial killers produced over the years. At what point does creating this content go from being interesting and entertaining to exploitative and sensational?
Is it necessary to show graphic content to underscore how violent something or someone is? How does Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy portray violence?
TV Details
- Premiere date : October 16, 2025
- Cast : Marin Ireland , Michael Chernus , Gabriel Luna
- Network : Peacock
- Genre : Drama
- Topics : History ( Biopic )
- Character Strengths : Empathy , Perseverance , Teamwork
- TV rating :
- Last updated : October 29, 2025
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