Tiger King: The Doc Antle Story, review: Netflix's Joe Exotic story plumbs ever murkier depths

Despite his ongoing incarceration, it is proving challenging to stay clear of Joe “Tiger King” Exotic. Arriving on the big padded heels of the recent Tiger King 2, the big-cat impresario has a cameo in Netflix’s new spin-off, from directors Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin, phoning from prison to say that his private-zoo rival Doc Antle “creates an illusion for people to believe”. Somewhere out there someone will presumably be pleased to one again make Joe’s acquaintance.

And yet Exotic’s presence is quickly revealed to be a feint on the part of Goode and Chaiklin. Levelling serious allegations against “Doc” Bhagavan Antle – real name Kevin – this latest addition to the Tiger King expanded universe is far darker than what has gone before. And Joe Exotic fans sitting down to Tiger King: The Doc Antle Story in anticipation of another true crime rollercoaster may soon wish they’d look elsewhere for their cheap thrills.

Tiger King wove a tale of murder, mayhem and terrifying mullets – and concluded with Exotic going to jail for trying to hire someone to kill his nemesis, Carole Baskin. Amid that show’s motley crew, Antle was one of several larger than life figures who rivalled the titular Exotic as a character too strange for fiction. Yet where hapless Joe struggled to his keep his hillbilly business afloat, Antle was master of all he surveyed. “The Ritz Carlton wildlife facilities” was how he described his Myrtle Beach Safari in South Carolina.

Antle had three romantic partners and a family of hangers-on who regarded him almost as a cult leader. And so he came across previously as the Hugh Hefner of private zoos. But the new, three-part series draws draw far less flattering comparisons.

The accusations against Antle are signifiant – so much so we aren’t allowed to repeat them. And because he does not seem to have participated in the film (footage of Antle appears to be recycled from Tiger King) he is not given the opportunity to respond. The allegations go back to the 1980s, when Antle was an aspiring zoo-owner and magician in rural Virginia. He was also a student at “Yogaville”, an ashram community in Virginia established by Swami Satchidananda – the guru who delivered the opening blessing at Woodstock.

It’s bleak viewing and light years removed from the hillbilly voyeurism of the original Tiger King. His extra-marital flings would drive first wife Betsy Rogers to alcoholism. “The other women, they thought I condoned it,” says Rogers, who became involved with Antle after Antle’s mother had a fling with Roger’s then-boyfriend. “Are you kidding me? I was the last person to know.”

The alleged crimes detailed in the documentary happened long before Myrtle Beach Safari, when Antle had long flowing hair and a porn-star moustache (today he resembles a Teletubby with a manbun). He came from huge wealth, his father having made fortune as a lettuce mogul. Antle though was more interested in sowing his oats than joining the family’s salad empire: in old clips he allows that he was “way too promiscuous” in his twenties.

After the original Tiger King became a phenomenon last year Antle was charged with wildlife trafficking. And if the allegations set out in The Doc Antle Story similarly lead to prosecutions then it will have presumably served its purpose. But as binge-worthy escapism at the end of a long day, it really isn’t any fun at all.