Netflix has just released a new documentary that presents a true-crime tale with a twist. The Pharmacist tracks the story of Dan Schneider, a man based in Poydras, Louisiana, who attempts to identify the person who killed his son during a drug deal. Dan Schneider, the hero – and here, that’s not hyperbole – of Netflix’s rollicking new, The Pharmacist, is such an interviewee. An open-hearted, grey-haired bear of a man who is articulate and eager to tell his shattering tale, often through thick tears and repeatedly invoking God as a helper and witness, Schneider has an attribute even the best sources don’t usually offer: he has recorded, on film or audio cassette, everything he has been through, meaning The Pharmacist has a vivid immediacy most documentaries can’t achieve. The extraordinary part of his life began when his existence as a mild-mannered, middle-aged pharmacist was splintered by the murder of his son Danny. Appalled at the lack of police interest in the case and with acute grief occluding his instinct for self-preservation, Schneider launched his own investigation, hunting for and interviewing suspects and witnesses while ignoring strong advice not to proceed. In the hope of one day presenting his evidence at trial, Schneider taped all his phone calls and even spoke his private thoughts into his recorder, as if narrating his own story. That story, of who killed Schneider’s son and how he found them, is a breathless thriller with a sensational twist in the middle. The Pharmacist raises an impeccably important global issue, but its power as television all comes from one individual.