5 Key Takeaways from Untold: The Shooting at Hawthorne Hill Netflix Documentary

Netflix‘s UNTOLD series has aired its fourth and final film in its sixth volume, titled The Shooting at Hawthorne Hill. The films in the series cover lesser-known sports stories, but this particular film could easily fall under the true crime genre. A feud between an Olympic equestrian and his student ended up in an attempted murder charge and trial.

Untold: The Shooting at Hawthorne Hill	Details
Director	Grace McNally
Release Date	April 21, 2026
Cast	Lauren Kanarek Michael Barisone Jonathan Kanarek Jay-T Rob Goodwin Lara Osborne Derek Heymer Ed Bilinkas Chris Deininger Christopher Schellhorn
IMDb Score (As of April 22, 2026)	6/10

Untold: The Shooting at Hawthorne Hill is a sensational take on the events that unfolded at the New Jersey farm. We are also taken through the world of Olympic horseback riding. Here are some of the key takeaways from the new documentary movie.

1 Ego Clashes Over An Expensive Horse Started It All

We meet Michael Barisone, the U.S. Olympic equestrian, Lauren Kanarek, an ambitious rider who wants to be trained by Barisone, her boyfriend Robert Goodwin, and Jay-T. Now, Jay-T is this prized horse that Barisone came to own in 2006.

In the documentary, Barisone’s version of things claimed that he allowed Lauren to ride the horse as a courtesy one time. The next thing he knew was Lauren posting about Jay-T on social media and entering him into competitions. He shared:

Her horses were Toyota Corollas. Jay-T was a Corvette. We let her drive a Corvette once, and unfortunately, that sent the snowball down the mountain.

Barisone tried to put a stop to Lauren’s actions, claiming that showing off the horse was disrespectful. However, he claimed that Lauren bullied him and forced him to sell the horse to her.

Lauren’s version claimed that she bought the horse from Barisone fair and square. He was going through a difficult divorce, and he had to sell the horse to get through the tough financial period. Lauren says she believed that was the end of it, until he became hostile towards Lauren and Goodwin.

2 Authorities Dismissed Lauren and Barisone’s Feud As a Civil Matter

Authorities should have definitely seen the signs of a potential violent outcome, given the number of calls they received from Michael Barisone before the incident. Tensions were running high on the farm, with Barisone and Lauren taking their feud onto social media.

Lauren’s Facebook posts claimed that she was bullied by the Olympic equestrian. Meanwhile, Barisone called 911 and placed the complaint that Lauren and Goodwin were squatters who occupied his farm. Both sides began making wild accusations against each other, with several calls being made to the police.

One time, Barisone told them that he believed Lauren and her boyfriend had bugged his place. It was clear that both sides were becoming paranoid and required intervention. However, the police always saw it as a civil matter that didn’t need to be dealt with as a criminal matter.

This part of the story reeks of negligence from the authorities, as they failed to see the signs of escalation. And most importantly, the lack of action from their side was the final straw that broke the camel’s back.

3 The Shooting at Hawthorne Hill’s Two Sides of the Story

Before the incident, Barisone allegedly made a declaration of war during a call made to the dispatchers. He claimed in that recording, “This is a war, and it’s going to be dealt with right now.” On the fateful day of August 7, 2019, he approached Lauren on his New Jersey estate grounds and pulled a gun on her. He shot her twice from point-blank range.

Before she passed out from her injuries, Lauren made a 911 call to report her shooting. Her words were caught on recording, “I’ve been shot in the heart. Michael Barisone shot me.” In the background of the call, the scuffle between Barisone and Goodwin could be heard.

Lauren was put in a medically induced coma and was on the brink of death before miraculously recovering from her injuries. It should have been an open and shut case of attempted murder using a gun. However, the trial saw Barisone using the insanity defense.

Countering Lauren’s story about Barisone shooting her out of revenge, the defense claimed that Barisone was pushed into a mental breakdown. The horse rider claimed in court that he blacked out moments before the incident and wasn’t of a sane mind when he tried to kill Lauren. He even claimed that he had no memory of pulling the trigger.

The defense presented evidence against Lauren, accusing her of gaslighting and threatening him. One piece of evidence presented was her Facebook post, which they claimed was threatening towards Barisone. It read, “Everyone should be worried. I’m not responsible for anything my other personalities do when they’re threatened.”

Shockingly, the jury bought Barisone’s insanity plea, and he was found not guilty during the trial.

4 The Aftermath: Where Is Lauren Kanarek After the Shooting?

Lauren Kanarek underwent a major surgery after the shooting to fix her shattered lung. This surgery helped her survive, but it certainly didn’t bring her normal life back. Lauren spoke to the New York Post ahead of the release of the documentary, where she recalled the day of her attack. She shared:

When you’re shot at point-blank range, and bullets just go through you, you’re still walking around. The damage is happening, but you’re not feeling it happening.

Lauren continues to recover from the physical and emotional trauma. And she has never stopped sharing her side of the story. The only positive outcome for her from the trial was a legal protection from Barisone.

According to reports, Lauren and her family aren’t happy with her portrayal in the Netflix documentary. Her father, Jonathan Kanarek, shared with NJ.com that the docufilm was biased against his daughter. He shared:

Netflix thinks it’s more valuable to try and say this, you know, young girl drove this famous man crazy than to tell the truth about it, which they fully know.

Their attorney, Steven Beer, called the movie a “classic and regrettable true crime documentary,” and accused Netflix of choosing “commerce over compassion.” Jonathan claimed that the documentary excluded crucial evidence and was focused on telling Barisone’s side of the story.

A publicist for the family shared that Lauren was paid an unspecified amount for her appearance in the docufilm.

5 The Aftermath: What Happened to Michael Barisone?

Michael Barisone spent two and a half years in jail while awaiting trial after the shooting. He was found not guilty on the charge of first-degree attempted murder by reason of insanity and not guilty on a second-degree weapons possession charge. He was also acquitted of two other counts.

He had spent some time in psychiatric care before being released under strict court supervision in 2023. He was initially committed to Ann Klein Forensic Center in Trenton and then sent to Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital in Morris County.

He is banned from contacting Lauren Kanarek for life. A report on Nancyjaffer.com revealed that he had partly resumed horse training. However, he cannot return to being a professional equestrian due to the ban imposed on him and the ongoing legal issues.

According to Barisone’s fiancée, Lara Osborne’s GoFundMe page, he wasn’t paid for his involvement in the documentary. She shared:

Despite wild claims of us being paid upwards of six figures for our interviews, we did not ask for nor receive a dime. We were told the show has a small budget to pay for some documents, which we declined, as we did not want to give them exclusive rights to certain documents.

It appears that despite their participation, both sides have grievances over the new Netflix documentary. The story is a classic case of how ego clashes in a competitive sporting world can have devastating consequences to those involved and their families.

Do you think the Netflix documentary was an unbiased take on the real-life incident? Let us know in the comments below!

Untold: The Shooting at Hawthorne Hill is now available for streaming on Netflix.