Netflix viewing on October 1st in Chicago, IL. Over the last couple of years Netflix has come up with really good original content. This is just another source of new features. So it counts.
The film tells the story of the murder of Meredith Kercher, a British exchange student from the University of Leeds attending school in Perugia, Italy, and the subsequent investigation, trials and media coverage of the murder. To say that this was a sensationalist trial is quite the understatement. From the get go, this was a media circus and things broke down from there. Admittedly, I don't remember much from this except the basics (I was driving a truck for a mobile marketing firm so my television watching was relegated to Simpsons and Seinfeld reruns as they were always easy to find no matter where you were), Ms. Knox was an American exchange student living with Kercher and she was on trial for her murder.
This case took 8 years to conclude. Knox (and her then boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito) were found guilty of the murder in 2009. The conviction was overturned on appeal in 2011 and Knox returned home to Seattle. In 2013, Italy's Supreme Court of Cassation set aside the appeals decision and would find Knox and Sollecito guilty in 2014. In 2015, the same Supreme Court of Cassation that found her guilty a year earlier, ruled that the case had no foundation and both were finally acquitted. Quite a ride.
The film centers on the media coverage of the case and the rush to judgement by law enforcement. Law Enforcement appears to have ignored certain facts and then just tried to get the murder to fit their narrative (a global police phenomenon) of the crime. The owner of the pub where Knox worked was implicated early by a vague text that he sent to Knox and his life was probably ruined (the film didn't really follow up too much on the poor guy) by the investigation. It was clear to me that neither Knox nor her boyfriend had any real motive (cui bono? "Those who benefit" in Latin. I think its a phrase Alec Baldwin uses in The Departed when discussing a murder with Matt Damon, to which Damon replies, "cui who gives a f*ck!"). Police then made up the lovers triangle that had no foundation. The evidence pointed in a few directions but law enforcement settled on Knox and Sollecito and eventually a 3rd person, Rudy Geude (who admitted to being at the scene, changed his story about Knox being at the scene and was convicted of the murder prior to the Knox trial).
The real villains here were the media. They painted a picture that was hard t turn away from, printing whatever the felt would sell the most of get the most ratings and of course not taking any responsibility. One of the journalists who covered the murder said something along the lines of "everyone was doing it." Nothing like a little journalistic integrity. It seemed that everyone wanted Knox to be guilty. Why? It was the better story. I felt bad for Kercher's family. They were being told that Knox was guilty by law enforcement and the media. How are they supposed to feel? Their 8 year journey had to just as gut wrenching as Knox's.
If you're into true crime documentaries, then this is a good watch. It's not as in depth as Making a Murder but it's no less satisfying.
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