John McAfee was never just a software guy. If you watched the Netflix documentary Running with the Devil: The Wild World of John McAfee, you already know that. But there’s a massive difference between a polished 105-minute edit and the sweaty, drug-fueled, and genuinely terrifying reality of being on the run with a paranoid billionaire.
He was the guy who built the antivirus program everyone loved to hate. Then he became the guy the world couldn't stop watching.
The film relies on hundreds of hours of raw footage, mostly captured by a VICE crew and a ghostwriter who found themselves trapped in McAfee’s orbit. It’s a mess. It’s chaotic. It’s exactly how John lived his life. Honestly, by the time you reach the end, you aren't sure if you’ve watched a true-crime doc or a masterclass in psychological manipulation.
The Belize Nightmare and the Greg Faull Mystery
Everything changed in 2012. Before then, McAfee was just an eccentric rich dude living in Belize, surrounded by armed guards and a rotating cast of very young women.
Then his neighbor, Gregory Faull, ended up dead. One gunshot to the back of the head.
The documentary doesn't pull punches here. It shows McAfee’s absolute conviction that the Belizean government was out to murder him. Was he a suspect? Yes. Was he "person of interest" number one? Absolutely. But instead of talking to the cops, John decided to go full Rambo. He buried himself in sand with a cardboard box over his head to hide from search parties. He dyed his hair with shoe polish. He fled to Guatemala with a 20-year-old girlfriend and a camera crew in tow.
✨ Don't miss: Priyanka Chopra Latest Movies: Why Her 2026 Slate Is Riskier Than You Think
The film raises a chilling question that most people miss: Did John actually pull the trigger? Or did he just create so much chaos that the truth didn't matter anymore? Local reports and interviews in the film suggest a feud over McAfee’s aggressive dogs was the breaking point. John claimed his dogs were poisoned; a day later, Faull was gone.
Running with the Devil: The Wild World of John McAfee and the Bath Salt Paranoia
You can't talk about this documentary without talking about the drugs. It’s not just "recreational use" we’re talking about here.
There are scenes in Running with the Devil: The Wild World of John McAfee where John looks like his brain is vibrating. He was obsessed with a compound called MDPV—often referred to as "bath salts."
- The Paranoia: He believed the Sinaloa cartel was tracking his every move.
- The Tech: He claimed to have "hack-proof" phones while simultaneously getting caught because his crew left GPS metadata in a photo.
- The Ego: He invited journalists to watch him hide, essentially using the media as a human shield.
The director, Charlie Russell, captured a man who was clearly brilliant but fundamentally broken. You see him on a superyacht, drinking heavily, clutching a loaded pistol, and ranting about the IRS. It’s exhausting to watch. Imagine living it.
The "Whacked" Tattoo and the Spanish Prison Ending
McAfee's death in 2021 felt like the final act of a movie no one wanted to script.
🔗 Read more: Why This Is How We Roll FGL Is Still The Song That Defines Modern Country
He was found dead in a Barcelona prison cell just hours after his extradition to the U.S. was approved. The official cause was suicide. But John, being John, had already planted the seeds of a conspiracy years prior. He got a tattoo on his arm that simply said $WHACKD.
He tweeted, "If I suicide myself, I didn't. I was whackd."
The documentary leans into this ambiguity. It features an interview with his ex-girlfriend, Samantha Herrera, who claims she received a phone call from John after his death. She says he told her he faked it. Is it true? Probably not. John was a master of the "long con" and loved fucking with people's heads. But that’s the power of the McAfee brand—he made the impossible seem just plausible enough to keep you guessing.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Doc
Many viewers think this is a biography. It isn't. It's a snapshot of a collapse.
It doesn't focus on his early success at Lockheed or how he turned a simple boot-sector virus scanner into a multi-billion dollar empire. Instead, it shows the "virus" John became. He was a man who couldn't exist within the boundaries of society. He hated taxes. He hated rules. He hated anyone who told him "no."
💡 You might also like: The Real Story Behind I Can Do Bad All by Myself: From Stage to Screen
Why We Are Still Obsessed With Him
We love a rogue.
There's something about a guy who has $100 million and decides to throw it all away to live on a boat with a collection of high-powered rifles. John represented the dark side of the Silicon Valley dream. He was the pioneer who realized that in the digital age, attention is more valuable than any software license.
If you're looking for closure, this documentary won't give it to you. It leaves you feeling greasy. You’ve just spent two hours inside the mind of a man who might have been a murderer, definitely was a tax evader, and was certainly a genius at self-promotion.
Actionable Takeaways for True Crime Fans
If you want to understand the real story beyond the Netflix edit, here’s how to dig deeper:
- Check the VICE Archives: Look up the original 2012 articles by Rocco Castoro. They provide a much more "raw" perspective written while the events were actually happening.
- Read the Ghostwriter’s Notes: Alex Cody Foster, who appears in the film, has spoken extensively about the tapes he recorded. Some of those tapes suggest John might have been involved in his own father's death—a detail the doc touches on briefly but is absolutely harrowing.
- Verify the Crypto Claims: Much of John’s final years were spent "pumping" various cryptocurrencies. Look into the SEC charges from 2020 to see how he actually made his money toward the end. It wasn't through antivirus software; it was through the "Ghost" coin and other ICO schemes.
John McAfee died as he lived: surrounded by questions and refusing to give a straight answer. Whether he’s actually gone or hiding out in a basement in Texas doesn't really matter. The legend he built is far more durable than the man ever was.