Ghislaine Maxwell: The Making Of A Monster airs tonight and offers viewers a ‘disturbing’ insight into her life

After several delays, Ghislaine Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison last week for her part in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. Maxwell, who was Epstein’s girlfriend at the time the events took place between 1994 and 2004, was found guilty of recruiting and trafficking girls for sexual abuse by the billionaire and his gang. Much has been made of what happened during that 10 year period, however, a new Channel 4 documentary – airing tonight (5 July) – will paint an even more shocking story of Ghislaine’s life. 

Ghislaine Maxwell: The Making Of A Monster will detail the rise and fall of the enigmatic figure over three episodes, and the first episode will air tonight at 10pm. This initial instalment will focus on Maxwell’s youth and young adulthood, including interviews with those who knew her well at the time. Various people will attest to her unusual behaviour and viewers will also hear from writer George Monbiot and journalist Mariella Frostrup, who give us a more personal insight into Maxwell.

It is already known that Maxwell grew up up under an abusive, controlling, multimillionaire patriarch (her father, newspaper tycoon Robert Maxwell); the youngest of nine, who regularly witnessed her father attacking and humiliating one sibling or another at dinner, while not being subjected to that treatment herself. 

Audiences will get an insight into the fallen British socialite’s cruel and callous view of her victims across the three-part series, a character analysis that mirrors the proceedings in court, where prosecutors claimed Maxwell has shown an “utter lack of remorse” for her crimes.

And while many of the finer details of the documentary have been kept under wraps, we do know that it will likely be a chilling watch, not least because it will include first-hand accounts from some of the victims who detail what happened to them. 

Critics who have been privy to the first episode of the docuseries ahead of its public release have dubbed it both “disturbing” and “grimly fascinating” – and though we are a nation obsessed with true crime, there is something about the trial having only just finished that is set to make viewers feel “extra uneasy”. 

As The Guardian put it: “If there is a wider lesson to be learned, it’s about how the empty, untethered lives of the very rich create a breeding ground for sociopaths, but other anecdotes about Maxwell’s behaviour offer a direct foreshadowing of her future as a handmaiden for extreme misogyny.”

The question remains though, what made a well-off, successful and much-loved socialite heiress commit such heinous crimes? Well, we might be about to find out. 

Ghislaine Maxwell: The Making Of  A Monster airs tonight (5 July) on Channel 4 at 10pm, with episodes available to stream on All4 afterwards.