Lauryn and Owen were just your typical high school couple—planning for prom, texting incessantly, and hanging with their besties. Things took a turn when both teens started receiving cruel online messages and texts from an unknown cyberbully. The messages often took aim at undermining the couple’s relationship and insulting Lauryn’s looks.
UNKNOWN NUMBER: THE HIGH SCHOOL CATFISH
What’s it rated? TV-MA
When? 2025
Where’s it showing? Netflix
The teens’ parents went on a crusade to try and track down the offender. Who would be cruel enough to doggedly harass these kids for more than 15 months? Well, it turns out truth is sometimes stranger than fiction, because by the end of this roller coaster, I was left with my jaw on the floor, swearing that what I was hearing was far too bizarre to be true.
While it may feel like a pretty-cookie cutter true crime Netflix special, if you don’t already know the twist, it’s definitely worth the watch. Interviews with both teens, their parents, and the community around them, including law enforcement, help to tell this wild story. We even hear from the offender themselves in an ill-thought-out attempt to explain their behavior. You never know who you can really trust is the unfortunate lesson this story teaches us. (94 min.) ∆
This article appears in Sept 18-28, 2025.