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The true crime genre has an innovative format, or perhaps even a completely fresh vocabulary and grammar: police body cam footage. Faces of victims, witnesses and possible perpetrators appear suddenly to the cameras, sometimes in the intense brightness of vehicle beams or torches as the officers approach, their faces and voices eloquent of caution or panic or indignation or suspiciously contrived innocence. And we often incidentally glimpse the expressions of the officers themselves, one standing by blankly while the other conducts the inquiry with what sometimes seems like extraordinary diffidence – though perhaps this is because they know they are being recorded.

An Emerging Pattern in Non-Fiction Cinema

We have previously seen the streaming service real-life crime film American Murder: Gabby Petito, about the killing of an social media personality by her boyfriend, whose primary focus was officer recordings and in which, as in this film, the law enforcement seemed extraordinarily lax with the suspect. There is also Bill Morrison’s Oscar-nominated short Incident, made exclusively of officer footage. Now comes a new film by Geeta Gandbhir about the grim case of a Florida mother in a city in Florida, a woman of colour whose four young kids allegedly harassed and tormented her neighbor, Susan Lorincz. In 2023, after an escalating series of neighborhood conflicts in which the police were repeatedly called, Lorincz fatally shot Owens through her closed front door, when Owens went to Lorincz’s house to address her about throwing objects at her children.

The Police Inquiry and Legal Context

The arresting officers found proof that Lorincz had done internet searches into the state's self-defense statutes, which permit residents and others to use firearms if there is a reasonable belief of threat. The documentary builds its story 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 – introduced by 911 audio material of the caller contacting authorities in a dramatically trembling voice. There is also jail video of the individual which has a chilly, queasy fascination.

Depiction of the Suspect

The documentary does not really imply anything too complicated about Lorincz, or any extenuating circumstance. She is obviously disturbed, although the children are heard calling her a derogatory term, an ugly jibe. The film is showcased as an example of how “stand your ground” laws generate senseless and tragic bloodshed. But the reality of firearm possession and the constitutional right (that historic American constitutional privilege that a late commentator notoriously said made firearm fatalities a necessary cost) is not much highlighted.

Police Interrogation and Firearm Norms

It is possible to watch the police interrogation scenes here and feel surprised at how minimal concern the officers took in this aspect. When did she buy her gun? Did she receive any instruction on handling it? Was this the first time she discharged the weapon? 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 undoubtedly important questions (though they could have inquired in footage that didn’t make the edit). Or is gun ownership so normal it would be like asking about microwaves or bread heaters?

Detention and Consequences

For what seemed to her neighbors a extended period, the suspect was not even arrested and charged, only held and even provided accommodation away from home for the night (another parallel, incidentally, with the a prior incident). And when she was ultimately formally arrested in the detention area, there is an remarkable scene in which Lorincz simply declines to rise, 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 just can’t do it. Did the gentle handling up until that point led her to think that this could be effective?

Final Outcome and Judgment

It didn’t; and the panel's decision is revealed in the end titles. A very sombre portrayal of U.S. justice and consequences.