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The true crime genre has a new medium, or perhaps even a completely fresh vocabulary and structure: police body cam footage. Faces of victims, observers and possible perpetrators appear suddenly to the cameras, sometimes in the harsh glare of vehicle beams or torches as the officers approach, their faces and voices expressing caution or panic or indignation or dubiously feigned naivety. And we frequently catch sight of the expressions of the officers themselves, one waiting impassively while the other asks the questions with what sometimes seems like remarkable hesitation – though perhaps this is because they know they are being recorded.

An Emerging Pattern in Non-Fiction Cinema

We have previously seen the Netflix true-crime documentary The Gabby Petito Case, about the killing of an Instagram influencer by her boyfriend, whose main point of interest was officer recordings and in which, as in this film, the police seemed extraordinarily lax with the perpetrator. There is also Bill Morrison’s Oscar-nominated short Incident, composed entirely of officer footage. Now comes a new film by Geeta Gandbhir about the tragic incident of a Florida mother in a city in Florida, a woman of colour whose four young kids reportedly bothered and tormented her white neighbour, Susan Lorincz. In 2023, after an increasing number of neighbour-dispute incidents in which the police were repeatedly called, Lorincz shot Owens dead through her closed front door, when the victim went to Lorincz’s house to confront her about hurling items at her children.

The Police Inquiry and State Laws

The investigating authorities found evidence that the suspect had done online research into Florida’s “stand your ground” laws, which permit residents and others to use firearms if there is a reasonable belief of danger. The documentary constructs its narrative with the officer recordings captured during the multiple officer calls to the scene before the killing, and then at the disturbing and disordered crime scene itself – introduced by emergency call recordings of Lorincz contacting authorities in a melodramatically shaky voice. There is also jail video of the individual which has a chilly, queasy fascination.

Portrayal of the Accused

The documentary does not really suggest anything too complicated about Lorincz, or any extenuating circumstance. She is obviously disturbed, although the kids are heard calling her a derogatory term, an hurtful taunt. The film is showcased as an illustration of how “stand your ground” laws generate unnecessary and heartbreaking violence. But the reality of firearm possession and the second amendment (that longstanding U.S. legal right that a late commentator famously claimed made gun deaths a necessary cost) is not much highlighted.

Officer Questioning and Gun Culture

It is feasible to watch the police interrogation scenes here and feel surprised at how little interest the officers took in this point. At what time did she purchase the firearm? Did she receive any instruction on handling it? Had she ever had occasion to fire it before? How was the gun kept in her home? Could it have been easily accessible and prepared? The police aren’t shown asking any of these undoubtedly important questions (though they could have inquired in recordings that were not included). Or is gun ownership so normal it would be like asking about kitchen appliances or toasters?

Detention and Consequences

For what seemed to her neighbors a very long time, Lorincz was not even taken into custody and indicted, only held and even provided accommodation away from home for the night (another parallel, by the way, with the a prior incident). And when she was finally officially taken into custody in the holding cell, there is an extraordinary sequence in which Lorincz simply refuses to stand, refuses to put her wrists out for the cuffs, not hostilely, but with the courteously pathetic demeanor of someone whose psychological state means that she is unable to comply. Had the kid-gloves treatment up until that point led her to think that this could be effective?

Conclusion and Verdict

It was not successful; and the panel's decision is revealed in the end titles. A deeply sobering portrayal of U.S. justice and consequences.