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The real-life crime genre has an innovative format, or perhaps even a whole new language and grammar: officer-worn camera recordings. Faces of victims, observers and possible perpetrators appear suddenly to the cameras, at times in the harsh glare of vehicle beams or torches as the officers approach, their expressions and tones expressing caution or fear or indignation or dubiously feigned naivety. And we frequently catch sight of the faces of the officers themselves, one waiting impassively while the other asks the questions with what occasionally seems like remarkable hesitation – though maybe this is because they know they are being recorded.

A Growing Trend in Documentary Filmmaking

We have previously seen the Netflix real-life crime film American Murder: Gabby Petito, about the killing of an Instagram influencer by her boyfriend, whose primary focus was body cam footage and in which, as in this film, the police seemed surprisingly lenient with the suspect. There is also the acclaimed short film Incident by Bill Morrison, composed entirely of body cam film. Now comes Geeta Gandbhir’s documentary about the tragic incident of Ajike Owens in a city in Florida, a African American woman whose children allegedly harassed and tormented her neighbor, Susan Lorincz. In 2023, after an increasing number of neighbour-dispute incidents in which the police were summoned multiple times, the accused shot Owens dead through her locked door, when the victim went to the neighbor's residence to confront her about throwing objects at her children.

The Police Inquiry and Legal Context

The arresting officers found evidence that the suspect had done internet searches into Florida’s “stand your ground” laws, which allow residents and others to use firearms if there is a significant presumption of danger. The movie constructs its narrative with the body cam footage generated during the multiple officer calls to the scene before the killing, and then at the disturbing and disordered crime scene itself – prefaced by emergency call recordings of Lorincz contacting authorities in a dramatically trembling voice. There is also police cell footage of Lorincz which has a disturbing, unsettling appeal.

Portrayal of the Accused

The documentary does not really suggest anything too complicated about Lorincz, or any extenuating circumstance. She is clearly unstable, although the kids are heard calling her a derogatory term, an ugly jibe. The film is showcased as an illustration of how self-defense regulations generate unnecessary and heartbreaking violence. But the reality of firearm possession and the second amendment (that historic American constitutional privilege that a late commentator famously claimed made gun deaths a price worth paying) is not much emphasized.

Police Interrogation and Gun Culture

It is possible to watch the officer questioning segments here and feel astonished at how little interest the police took in this point. When did she buy her gun? Where (if anywhere) did she train in its use? Was this the first time she discharged the weapon? Where did she store it in the house? 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 didn’t make the edit). Or is gun ownership so commonplace it would be like asking about kitchen appliances or toasters?

Detention and Consequences

For what appeared to her local residents a very long time, the suspect was not even arrested and charged, only held and even offered a hotel stay away from home for the night (another point of comparison, by the way, with the a prior incident). And when she was ultimately formally arrested in the holding cell, there is an extraordinary sequence in which Lorincz simply refuses to stand, refuses to put her wrists out for the handcuffs, not aggressively, but with the politely self-pitying air of someone whose mental health means that she is unable to comply. Did the gentle handling up until that point encouraged her to think that this could be effective?

Conclusion and Verdict

It didn’t; and the jury’s verdict is revealed in the closing credits. A deeply sobering picture of American crime and punishment.