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The true crime genre has an innovative format, or perhaps even a whole new language and grammar: police body cam footage. Countenances of those harmed, witnesses and potential offenders loom up to the cameras, at times in the intense brightness of headlights or torches as the police arrive, their faces and voices eloquent of wariness or fear or anger or suspiciously contrived innocence. And we frequently incidentally glimpse the expressions of the officers themselves, one standing by blankly while the other conducts the inquiry with what occasionally seems like remarkable hesitation – though perhaps this is because they are aware they are being recorded.

A Growing Trend 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 primary focus was officer recordings and in which, as in this film, the police seemed extraordinarily lax with the suspect. There is also Bill Morrison’s Oscar-nominated short Incident, made exclusively of officer footage. Now comes Geeta Gandbhir’s documentary about the grim case of a Florida mother in Ocala, Florida, a African American woman whose four young kids allegedly harassed and tormented her white neighbour, Susan Lorincz. In 2023, after an increasing number of neighborhood conflicts in which the police were repeatedly called, Lorincz fatally shot Owens through her closed front door, when Owens went to the neighbor's residence to address her about throwing objects at her children.

The Police Inquiry and Legal Context

The investigating authorities found proof that Lorincz had done online research into Florida’s “stand your ground” laws, which permit householders and others to use firearms if there is a significant presumption of danger. The movie builds its story with the officer recordings generated during the multiple officer calls to the location before the killing, and then at the disturbing and disordered incident site itself – prefaced by 911 audio material of the caller calling the police in a melodramatically shaky voice. There is also police cell footage of Lorincz which has a chilly, queasy fascination.

Depiction of the Suspect

The documentary does not really imply anything too complex about the neighbor, or any extenuating circumstance. She is obviously disturbed, although the children are heard calling her “the Karen”, an hurtful taunt. The production is showcased as an illustration of how self-defense regulations lead to senseless and tragic violence. But the reality of gun ownership and the second amendment (that longstanding U.S. legal right that a late commentator notoriously said made gun deaths a price worth paying) is not much highlighted.

Officer Questioning and Gun Culture

It is feasible to watch the police interrogation scenes here and feel astonished at how minimal concern the police took in this aspect. At what time did she purchase the firearm? Where (if anywhere) did she train in its use? 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 authorities aren’t shown asking any of these surely relevant questions (though they may have done in recordings that didn’t make the edit). Or is gun ownership so commonplace it would be like asking about kitchen appliances or bread heaters?

Detention and Consequences

For what appeared to her local residents 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, incidentally, with the a prior incident). And when she was finally formally arrested in the holding cell, there is an extraordinary sequence in which Lorincz simply refuses to stand, will not extend her arms for the handcuffs, not hostilely, but with the courteously pathetic demeanor of someone whose mental health means that she just can’t do it. Did the gentle handling up until that point encouraged her to think that this could be effective?

Final Outcome and Judgment

It didn’t; and the jury’s verdict is saved for the end titles. A very sombre portrayal of U.S. justice and consequences.