Social media is both untrustworthy and corrosive, and while those facts may be obvious to anyone who spends time on X or Instagram, they’re nonetheless verified in stark fashion by TikTok Star Murders. Premiering on Peacock on June 25, this feature-length documentary details the ugly case of Ali Abulaban and his wife Ana, whose online image as a happy and fun-loving couple proved to be a terrible lie. An up-close-and-personal tragedy of fame, ego, and domestic abuse that’s energized by copious recordings made by its homicidal subject, it’s a 21st-century cautionary tale about the desire for fame and the platforms which make that dream seem so easily attainable.
Raised in a strict Muslim household, Ali joined the United States Air Force and wound up stationed in Okinawa, Japan, where he met Ana. The two quickly hit it off, but their relationship was temporarily thwarted when Ali was unceremoniously discharged for getting into a brawl. Back living with his family in Bristow, Virginia, in 2015, Ali learned that Ana—who had relocated with her clan to her native Philippines—was pregnant with their child. By January 2017, Ali had secured Ana a visa to join him in Virginia, where they moved into a house and began a life that blossomed thanks to Ali’s growing online fanbase.
Having aspired to be an actor, Ali started making short-form content for YouTube, Instagram, and ultimately TikTok, where he amassed a sizable following with comedy-sketch videos featuring spot-on impressions. His favorite (and most notable) character was Scarface’s Tony Montana, and as clinical and forensic psychologist Dr. Joni Johnston points out in TikTok Star Murders, the fact that he adored such a violent icon was a hint about his own true nature. Peacock’s documentary presents many of these viral clips, and though few of them are funny or original, they do illustrate his enthusiasm for the bite-size form, as well as his modest talent for mimicking A-listers like Al Pacino, Nicolas Cage, and Keanu Reeves.
When not aping big-screen legends, Ali produced myriad videos about the video game Skyrim, and those eventually helped him find his footing in the overcrowded TikTok field. Often assisting his cause was Ana, who served as his camerawoman when not appearing alongside her now-husband in goofy bits that highlighted their charisma and attractiveness. A particular video of the two dancing around their home titled “When your relationship is drama free” demonstrates how the two crafted a virtual persona as a picture-perfect pair. Driven by Ali’s ambition and creativity, their campaign worked, and individual posts were soon racking up over 2 million views, with Ali proclaiming himself a bona fide “internet celebrity.”
TikTok Star Murders boasts commentary from journalist Andrea Marks as well as Ana’s friends Rachel and Julia, both of whom provide first-hand accounts of Ali and Ana’s turbulent romance. After some time living near Ali’s family in Virginia, Ana convinced her spouse to transfer to San Diego so she could be closer to her BFFs and he could fully pursue his Hollywood aspirations. Once ensconced in a swanky high-rise, Ali’s fortunes continued to improve, as did Ana’s online profile—and it was the latter which, it’s implied, was one of many issues that complicated their seemingly fairytale life.
Ali, everyone agrees, was as jealous as they come, and he worked hard to isolate Ana whenever possible, thereby further alienating her from him. His paranoia about his wife’s fidelity was exacerbated by his growing cocaine habit—an addiction which was so rampant that he’s seen brazenly snorting blow on livestream videos replayed by TikTok Star Murders. All of this increasingly wore on Ana, who felt stifled and dominated by her possessive husband, and her ensuing detachment merely inflamed his mania. Though it wouldn’t become public knowledge (even to Julia and Rachel) until later, Ali was physically abusive behind closed doors. Crazier yet, he had no qualms about documenting his virulently hostile diatribes against his wife, during which he cursed her and accused her of cheating on him—specifically, with a friend named Ray about whom Ali had long been suspicious.
Peacock’s documentary recounts Ali and Ana’s disintegrating union—and the nightmare it produced—in something approximating real time, courtesy of countless videos and audio recordings of their fights, including one in which Ali pleads his case (and soft-peddles his behavior) to cops who’ve been called to their apartment. Frequently shooting himself in close-up, Ali is a man whose big, charming smile and outgoing performances appear, from the get-go, to mask an angry, hungry spirit. Thus, his subsequent no-holds-barred tirades come across as unsurprising. Moreover, his eagerness to preserve them for posterity exemplifies the extremity of his social-media obsession, which was so severe that even in the wake of his crimes, he makes clear in a prison-recorded monologue that his biggest concern is disappointing his followers.
On Oct. 21, 2021, everything came to a head when Ali broke into the couple’s apartment (where Ana was staying), trashed the place, and installed a listening device on an iPad. Upon hearing her speaking to Ray later that day, an enraged Ali snapped and drove over to the residence, where he shot both Ana and Ray dead with a 9mm handgun. In May 2024, he was convicted of first-degree murder, albeit not without a fight; in court footage, Ali vehemently yells at the judge and argues that he was pushed to commit homicide by Ana’s infidelity. He makes similar claims in a jailhouse interview with journalist Kelsey Christensen, all while simultaneously blaming social media for ruining him, stating, “It messed with my brain! It made me violent, it made me like aggressive.”
TikTok Star Murders only cursorily touches upon the ingrained gender-related cultural ideas in Ali and Ana’s heads, to its detriment; a fuller examination of their (respective) Muslim and Filipino upbringings would have lent the proceedings greater context and depth. Still, it offers a startling glimpse at the way in which celebrity (and the intense yearning for it) messes with people’s heads, not to mention the terrible dangers of domestic violence.
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