Is Eric Bana’s Netflix crime series based on a true story? The answer is complicated.

The latest Netflix mystery skyrocketing up to the top of the TV charts is Untamed.

The crime drama miniseries on Netflix stars Australia's own Eric Bana and Sam Neill, and captures the stunning Yosemite National Park in California.

The show follows Kyle Turner (Bana), a special agent with the National Park Service's Investigative Services Branch (ISB), as he investigates a brutal murder in the park that plunges him into his own shady past.

The series also stars Rosemarie DeWitt and Lily Santiago as characters involved in the investigation and Yosemite's park operations.

Watch the trailer. Post continues after video.

The plot centres around the discovery of an unidentified female body — initially a Jane Doe — found at the bottom of El Capitan, a famous rock formation in Yosemite.

Kyle teams up with rookie ranger Naya Vasquez (Santiago) to solve the mystery while facing personal demons and navigating the dangers hidden beneath Yosemite's breathtaking vistas.

Despite its realistic portrayal of Yosemite and the National Park Service, Untamed is a fictional story.

The central murder case and characters are not based on specific true events, but the show's creators, Mark and Elle Smith, have drawn inspiration from the very real history of the park.

What is factual or inspired by reality in the series? We've rounded up which aspects have real-life parallels with Yosemite's history.

The true story that inspired Untamed on Netflix.

The murder depicted in the series shares some similarities with the Yosemite murders, a series of brutal killings by Cary Stayner in 1999 around Yosemite National Park.

Stayner, working as a handyman near the park, murdered four women: Carole Sund, her daughter Juliana, Juli's friend Silvina Pelosso and Joie Ruth Armstrong.

Joie Ruth Armstrong's body was found near a stream in a remote part of Yosemite National Park.

Stayner confessed to the murders, revealing a history of violent fantasies. His crimes shocked the community, damaging Yosemite's peaceful reputation and leading to his death sentence.

Image: Netflix.

Yosemite National Park does have a documented history of accidents and fatal incidents, particularly related to climbing El Capitan.

According to Roberts & Spiegel, an injury law firm, there have been "over 30 recorded climbing deaths on El Capitan between 1905 and 2023," they stated.

"In the last decade, there have been 7 climbing deaths on the prolific rock face. It's speculated that death rates have increased for climbers due to heightened popularity around timed climbing, gaining social media clout, and perusal of sponsorship deals."

The show's focus on a mysterious fall from El Capitan echoes these real dangers and tragedies.

"Everyone thinks of Yosemite as this beautiful place with all the vistas and all the scenery, but we were trying to touch on the dangers that are just beyond that," Untamed's co-showrunner Mark L. Smith told Tudum.

Along with the deaths that have occurred in the park, the ISB, portrayed by Bana's character, is a real division within the U.S. National Park Service responsible for law enforcement and investigations.

The ISB is a specialised team of criminal investigators working year-round across all national parks in the US.

It has about 33 special agents nationwide, stationed in four main field offices covering multiple parks and states. These agents handle complex, sensitive, and long-term investigations such as violent crimes and missing persons cases.

All that said, there are some discrepancies between Untamed and the Yosemite region.

Image: Netflix.

The show was actually filmed in British Columbia, with other scenery was captured from a mix of Mount Seymour, Whistler Olympic Park and Grace Lake.

This was a detail that rang alarm bells for Yosemite experts. "Why claim Yosemite, one of the most unique and cherished landscapes in the national park system, as your setting, yet then feature almost nothing recognisable about the park, either in scenery or people?" Beth Pratt, author of the upcoming book Yosemite Wildlife, told SFGATE.

"It's a bit like if you bill Brad Pitt in a movie in the lead, yet he never appears in the film. Of the six-hour series, I estimate maybe five minutes had any real Yosemite footage."

All episodes of Untamed are now streaming on Netflix.

Feature image: Netflix.