Incredible Criticism: A Series Of Real Amazing And Sensitive Netflix Crimes

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Content Disclaimer: This article contains references and descriptions of sexual assault and rape.

In the early hours of an early morning of March 2008, an 18-year-old woman from Lynnwood, Washington, was woken up by a stranger in her apartment. Holding her at the end of a knife, he tied her up, raped her for hours, photographed her and told her that if she showed up in front of the police, he would publish the photographs online. . Then he left.

I'm starting my review of the new Netflix Limited Edition Unbelievable with this heartbreaking story to make a thing as clear as possible: it really happened. Not only in the show, but in real life. It was the crime at the center of Pulitzer Prize-winning ProPublica's article "An Incredible Story of Rape," and the This An Life episode, "Anatomy of Doubt," which served as the basis for Unbelievable. The article and the podcast clearly indicate from the beginning that the crime they are going to discuss has not been debated, that is the case. Many people in the life of the victim – in each version of the story, she is named after Mary – may not have believed it, but the people who tell her story want us to know that they know it. do it and we should do it.

Image via Netflix

The same is true of Unbelievable, a real crime drama that is – somewhat ironically – built on a solid belief base. The first episode opens on Marie (Kaitlyn Dever) during the hours that followed her assault, while she and her former adoptive mother, Judith (Elizabeth Marvel), wait for the police to arrive. Almost immediately, something is wrong. Marie is asked to describe her attack again and again in front of a parade of strangers with notepads and cameras. Everything is very official and we know that the police and the medical staff are "just doing their job", but there is something about the repetition and cold sterility of the process that is almost cruel. It's easy to understand to see Marie interviewed, examined and photographed, why so many victims of sexual assault choose not to report their aggression.

Nevertheless, despite all the incessant insinuations on the body and the story of Mary, as well as the growing doubt aroused both by the police and by the people who are supposed to serve as a support system (no one will believe her at the same time). end of the first episode). , Unbelievable makes it clear that she's telling the truth. This is evident in the brief flashbacks of the aggression that punctuate the series, in the way the camera frames Dever during the moments when the story of Mary is disputed and in the coherence between the story of Mary and later stories of other victims of the rapist. UnbelievableThe story takes place over a tight period of 385 minutes, and there is no one in which we are asked to question the veracity of Mary's story.

In the second episode, the series advances three years and changes location in Colorado, where we meet Karen Duvall (Merritt Wever) and Grace Rasmussen (Toni Collette), based on real-life detectives Stacy Galbraith and Edna Hendershot. Duvall and Rasmussen work in different neighborhoods, but they are united by the similarities between the rape cases they are investigating. The case of Duvall: a 22-year-old woman named Amber (Danielle Macdonald) Golden. Rasmussen's: a woman in her 50s named Sarah (Vanessa Bell Calloway) in Westminster. This is not a standard procedure for officers from different neighborhoods to share the details of their case. It is a coincidence that brings these two together. Duvall's husband works for Rasmussen and recognizes certain details of his case in that of his wife.

Image via Netflix

On paper, Duvall and Rasmussen do not have much in common apart from their profession. Duvall has a soft, gentle voice while Rasmussen is direct and abrasive. Duvall is patient; Rasmussen is constantly moving. Duvall is young and optimistic. Rasmussen is seasoned and jaded. Duvall is a person of faith. Rasmussen believes in the hard work and power of a strong drink.

Yet, in terms of how they interact with the victims of their respective affairs, similarities emerge. On several occasions, they assure women that they do not need to explain how they treat their trauma or apologize for not reacting in the usual way. They tell them that it is normal not to remember much or to remember everything. Ask for medical help or not. Want to talk about their attack, or try to leave it behind and move on.

In one of the first scenes, after seeing Duvall interview Amber with a sweetness and empathy so painfully absent from Marie's experience, the two detectives will talk to Sarah together. Rasmussen tells Duvall not to talk, but towards the end of the interview, pulling a thread of which Sarah has detached with one of his answers, Duvall asks him a question at About his assault, while in the background, Rasmussen marveled. Sarah begins to apologize, explaining that she does not remember many details, and Rasmussen quickly reassures her by telling her that it's self-defense, that it's common that she should not be excused for doing what she had to do to feel safe.

Later, when the two detectives are alone, Rasmussen will explain to Duvall that "Sarah's psyche is spitting and praying" and that asking her questions about rape committed by another stranger with a badge will do more harm than good. Looking at the scene, realizing that even the gentle, sweet-voiced Duvall may have involuntarily traumatized Sarah with her only well-meaning question, it's hard not to think of Mary being forced to describe her assault again and again, with minute detail, constantly rotating carousel of mainly male outsiders who thought she was inventing everything.

It is this juxtaposition that Unbelievable is doing so well, especially since the Duvall and Rasmussen affair is gaining momentum. The two detectives are brilliant, turning even the smallest rumors into solid gold tracks, but at every break in the box, we always go back to Marie. Remember, the show seems to be pressing her as we see her struggling to find the five hundred dollars that will allow her to pay her legal fees after she is accused of false reports, or to pedal furiously away from clusters of journalists who are trying to find out why she's lying, or crying helplessly in her pillow. Do not forget that not everyone has a Duvall or a Rasmussen. Some people have no one at all.

Image via Netflix

Marie, at least, has us. Unbelievable sure of that. We can not help it, but we can believe it and witness the many injustices it is forced to undergo. We can remember, even in moments of triumph, that she is always out, alone.

Also difficult to shake while watching Unbelievable is the knowledge that everything is based on a true story. If you read ProPublica's article or listen to the podcast before watching the series (I highly recommend both), it's hard not to be blown away by the closeness with which drama is about reality. showrunner Susannah Grant, with co-creators Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman took meticulous care to give reason to Mary's story, until they had the impression of wanting to personally redeem the three years when everyone was mistaken.

And Unbelievable becomes more just than just the facts of the case. Dever is more than solid against the winners Emmy Wever (Impious, Nurse Jackie) and Collette (United States of Tara; Collette also has a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination), the top three titles offering exceptional performances that give the impression of embodying these characters for eight years instead of eight. And the support cast – which, in addition to the actresses mentioned above, also includes Annaleigh Ashford, Dale Dickey, and Brooke Smith – is wall to wall remarkable.

In addition, while the writing is definitely enhanced by the quality of the cast, the screenplay is lean and moves slowly, establishing a perfect balance between exhilarating tension and deep despair, and explaining just enough elements of procedure to never leave the public behind. (In a clever alternative to a routine procedural stumbling block, Rasmussen's office receives an inexperienced intern who asks him what all the jargon means, so that more experienced characters are never forced to explain it for profit. of the public.) whenever the scenario becomes a little repetitive, it is how often it reminds us of the importance of listening to the victims, that there is no good way to exist as a victim of aggression and that healing is different for everyone – but that's all. hardly a fault. These are messages that we could all probably hear a little more often.

Image via Netflix

With regard to the rapes themselves, Unbelievable treats his potentially traumatic subject with a sensitivity and grace that is rarely found on television (or elsewhere). The sifter I received included (rightly) a content warning at the beginning of the first episode and that the series included a number of flashes of a split second of many assaults, but they are never free or voyeuristic and always come from the victim. point of view. Once, the camera does not dwell on abusive images of female nudity; He focuses instead on the faces of women, their memories of their abuser and sometimes a fleeting stroke of the hand, foot or stomach. Later, when the photos that the attacker took of his victims are discovered, we are told that they are difficult to look at, but we have never seen them. We do not have to do it. This is not a series about the trauma experienced, but about the healing of it.

★★★★★

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