Juonikuvaukset(1)
Few people ever experience the momentum that star football player Greg Kelley had going into his senior year of high school. That all changed in the summer of 2013. Greg is accused of a terrible crime that shocked Leander, a suburb of Austin, Texas, leaving the community bitterly divided over whether Greg could have committed such a crime. At 19 years old, he is convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison without parole. As new questions are raised, an investigation unfolds to reveal a shocking story that goes far beyond sports and the criminal justice system. (South by Southwest Film Festival)
(lisää)Arvostelut (1)
I had not seen such a compelling true crime documentary series for a long time. The five hour-long episodes follow a successful high-school football player from Texas who was accused of sexually assaulting two four-year-old boys six years prior. There was practically no evidence. Nevertheless, the court sentenced him to 25 years in prison. The documentary crew was there when the case was reopened in 2017 and over the next three years they were able to see first-hand how the case continued to develop while recording the involved parties’ immediate reactions to new findings and rulings. More and more evidence of the fatal failures of individuals and of the system completes the portrait of a divided community, which serves as a microcosm of the United States. Some people respect the facts, while others, under the influence of heightened emotions, refuse to take objective reality into account and put moral principles above the law. Everyone is convinced that they are acting justly. The atmosphere is tense on both sides. The fact that this involves clearing the name of a man who would most probably be the villain in a fictional story of this type – a handsome athlete with a lot of friends and strong support from the community – brings an unusual dynamic to the film. Due to their impartiality and focus, the first three episodes in particular are as comparably engaging as Making a Murderer. The remaining episodes, which are more personal and less procedural, need some editing. That said, there is still no artificial stretching of the runtime through repetition of the same statements, unnecessary diversions or piling up banal testimonies, as is often the case in other true crime series (for example, Netflix’s recent Trial 4). Outcry is so well constructed that you will find your emotions constantly changing (curiosity, suspense, compassion, frustration) and a few times you will probably doubt who is actually the villain and who is the hero, who is telling the truth and who is bullshitting. One of this year’s best docuseries.
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