On Thursday, Feb. 27, Hulu released the “Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke,” revealing a horrific glimpse into the secretly traumatic lifestyle the Franke family lived for years.
As many of you may recall, back in February, I wrote a review of the book “The House of My Mother: A Daughter’s Quest for Freedom” by Shari Franke, the eldest daughter of the family. Franke beautifully told an appalling story of her secretive childhood, all while their family’s false reality was broadcast on YouTube.
This documentary was no different. Kevin Franke, husband to Ruby, and Chad Franke, eldest Franke son, were featured in this documentary alongside Shari. Their stories gave an even more in-depth look at just how fabricated the lives of YouTube families are.
Over 1,000 hours of raw footage from the family’s once-famous YouTube channel, “8 Passengers,” was given to the production team. Many clips throughout the series feature the abusive and threatening behavior Ruby demonstrated toward her family.
The documentary is formatted as a series with three episodes, “Abundance,” “Distortion” and “Truth.” Each of the three episodes captured a different part of the Franke family journey over the years.
The first episode, “Abundance,” gives viewers background on the uprise of Ruby’s role as YouTube’s perfect mommy vlogger. Mothers from all over turned to her as Ruby captured the wholesome, happy family she wanted the world to see. Little did everyone know, Ruby only showed her audience what they wanted to see. Eventually, Ruby needed assistance with her eldest son, Chad, and a friend referred her to life coach Jodi Hildebrandt. This is where the devil knocked, and the Franke’s opened their door.
Episode two, “Distortion,” discusses how the Frankes quickly became an integral part of Hildebrandt’s brand, “ConneXions.” ConneXions is a life coaching program headed by Hildebrandt. Seeing the mass following Ruby had acquired, Hildebrandt knew she needed to bring on Ruby to grow her life coaching business.
The final episode, “Truth,” reveals the most gruesome and shocking reality of the Franke family. As the family grew apart, people began to notice and wonder what was going on.
After finishing the series, I left with just about as many questions as I had starting the documentary. There is a bit of vagueness within the documentary about certain topics, mostly due to keeping the younger children’s information and identities private.
I highly encourage anyone who has read even the smallest bit of information on this case to watch this series. My understanding and knowledge of the topic grew tremendously as there was information I didn’t know about the entire situation. Media outlets have not properly portrayed the exact happenings of this case, and the best thing the family could have done was this documentary. Everything stated in this documentary is factual and transparent, unlike the life the Franke’s used to live.
The story of this family’s fallout is a true reflection of the negative effects family vlogging can have on just one person. All it takes is one person to destroy what was once a perfectly happy family.