Cropsey

Filmmakers Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio examine the origins of an urban legend well known in their hometown of Staten Island. Growing up, they often heard tales of an elusive boogeyman-type figure known as Cropsey. Cropsey was said to be a man who had escaped from a local mental institution that had been abandoned before the filmmakers’ childhoods.

This was likely a tale used to dissuade Staten Island children from exploring what remained of the mental institution, but the documentary delves deeper into the legend by linking it to a real-life figure of malevolence. Shifting from childhood tall tales to a harrowing reality, Zeman and Brancaccio explore the kidnapping of a 13-year-old girl with Down’s syndrome. Their investigation into this crime, which made Cropsey feel real all those years ago, leads them to a drifter who may be linked to the disappearances of other Staten Island children.