“The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel” is the first season of the start of a new crime series on Netflix. The four episode season gave viewers the story behind the infamous and mysterious elevator video filmed at the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles as it dives into the case of a missing girl, Elisa Lam. 

The show was released on Netflix in Feb. and goes through the case and storyline of Elisa Lam. Lam disappeared from the hotel in 2013, only leaving behind eerie security footage of her in the hotel’s elevator. 

This documentary series is very thorough, as it goes through every single piece of evidence and scenario imaginable. The series also includes a multitude of interviews and accounts from people staying at the hotel, working at the hotel and investigating the case. The show does a very good job in regards to looking around every corner. This makes it even more interesting and easy to follow. 

The vanishing at The Cecil Hotel is sometimes even told from the perspective of Elisa, as it goes through her social media accounts, in what is supposed to be her own voice. This added an aspect that made the documentary feel more personal to Elisa Lam, and let viewers empathize with her more. I really enjoyed this, as it felt like she was actually telling me her own story. This was something that not a lot of crime shows do, but should start doing as it made the content more personal. 

This series also delves into very important, relevant issues of the present. Topics Like homelessness, poverty and mental health were brought to the surface in an eye-opening way. Especially at the end of the last episode, the series shows some of the very prevalent issues of today that really makes the viewer think. This is again, something that not a lot of crime shows talk about, but it was very important to understand the bigger picture. 

This show was extremely hard to stop watching, as I found myself flying through it in almost a night. Not only did it tell the story of the disappearance of Elisa Lam in a very intriguing and thought out way, it also brings up other, very important issues within society. I enjoyed this series, as it was the perfect balance between mysterious, scary, sad and relevant.