Hulu has come out with a new documentary series called “Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke,” which premiered on February 27th, 2025. This series split into 3 episodes goes through the horrifying story of Ruby Franke, a Youtuber vlogger who was once very popular because of her channel called 8 Passengers, and the later finding of child abuse within her family.
Ruby Franke gained popularity online filming videos about her Mormon family’s daily life, showing an image of a happy and god oriented household. At its max, Ruby’s channel had 2.5 million subscribers. However, in August 2023, people’s view on the Franke family changed dramatically. Ruby was arrested with charges of aggravated child abuse after her 12 year old son escaped from the home of her business partner Jodi Hilderbrandt. The boy was found malnourished with injuries and marks that showed he had been restrained. After more investigation, a journal that Ruby kept was found, and in this journal Ruby detailed the severe punishments done to her children who she thought were “demonically possessed.” Both Rubi and Jodi pleaded guilty to their charges and were sentenced to up to 30 years in prison.
“Devil in the Family” gives an inside look to this horrifying case, showing unscripted interviews with Ruby’s husband, Kevin Franke, and the two oldest children who are adults, Shari and Chad Franke. This is the first time that they spoke out about what happened on camera. This Hulu series also had interviews with former neighbors and friends, giving a complete view of everything that happened leading up to Ruby’s arrest. The Director, Olly Lambert, shows unedited footage that goes against Ruby’s online persona of a perfect mother, and shows the reality of her abusive actions.
The documentary talks about how the family was involved with Jodi Hildebrandt, a therapist and founder of the religious network ConneXions, and how it influenced how Ruby parented. With the guidance of Jodi, Ruby’s punishments and consequences for her kids became very extreme eventually leading up to the tragic events that occurred. They got as bad as forcing her children to do labor in the scorching heat without food or water for days, and putting pepper on their restraint wounds.
For viewers who might want to watch the documentary, it is available on Hulu. This docuseries is a huge reminder that things are not always what they seem, especially online. Perfect online personas can hide a lot and it is important to stay aware of this and understand the importance of knowing not everything you see is real.
