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The real-life crime genre has an innovative format, or perhaps even a whole new language and structure: police body cam footage. Faces of victims, witnesses and possible perpetrators appear suddenly to the cameras, sometimes in the intense brightness of headlights or torches as the officers approach, their faces and voices expressing wariness or panic or anger or dubiously feigned naivety. And we often catch sight of the expressions of the law enforcement personnel, one waiting impassively while the other conducts the inquiry with what occasionally seems like remarkable hesitation – though maybe this is because they are aware they are being recorded.

A Growing Trend in Non-Fiction Cinema

We have already had the Netflix true-crime documentary American Murder: Gabby Petito, about the killing of an Instagram influencer by her boyfriend, whose main point of interest was body cam footage and in which, as in this film, the police seemed surprisingly lenient with the perpetrator. There is also the acclaimed short film Incident by Bill Morrison, composed entirely of officer footage. Now comes Geeta Gandbhir’s documentary about the grim case of a Florida mother in a city in Florida, a woman of colour whose four young kids reportedly bothered and antagonized her white neighbour, a local resident. In 2023, after an increasing number of neighbour-dispute incidents in which the police were repeatedly called, Lorincz fatally shot Owens through her locked door, when Owens went to the neighbor's residence to confront her about throwing objects at her children.

The Police Inquiry and Legal Context

The investigating authorities found evidence that the suspect had done internet searches into Florida’s “stand your ground” laws, which permit householders and others to use firearms if there is a significant presumption of danger. The documentary constructs its narrative with the body cam footage generated during the multiple officer calls to the location before the killing, and then at the horrific and chaotic crime scene itself – introduced by 911 audio material of the caller contacting authorities in a dramatically trembling voice. There is also police cell footage of the individual which has a disturbing, unsettling appeal.

Depiction of the Suspect

The film does not really suggest anything too complicated about the neighbor, or any mitigating factors. She is clearly unstable, although the kids are heard calling her a derogatory term, an ugly jibe. The film is showcased as an example of how “stand your ground” laws lead to unnecessary and heartbreaking violence. But the reality of gun ownership and the second amendment (that historic American constitutional privilege that a late commentator notoriously said made firearm fatalities a price worth paying) is not much highlighted.

Officer Questioning and Gun Culture

It is possible to watch the police interrogation scenes here and feel surprised at how little interest the officers took in this point. When did she buy her gun? Where (if anywhere) did she train in its use? Had she ever had occasion to fire it before? Where did she store it in the house? Was it just on the couch, loaded and ready? The police aren’t shown asking any of these undoubtedly important questions (though they may have done in footage that didn’t make the edit). Or is possessing a firearm so normal it would be like asking about kitchen appliances or bread heaters?

Arrest and Aftermath

For what seemed to her local residents a extended period, Lorincz was not even taken into custody and indicted, only detained and even provided accommodation 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 detention area, there is an extraordinary sequence in which the individual simply refuses to stand, will not extend her arms for the cuffs, not hostilely, but with the courteously pathetic demeanor of someone whose psychological state means that she just can’t do it. Had the kid-gloves treatment up until that point led her to think that this might actually work?

Final Outcome and Judgment

It was not successful; and the jury’s verdict is revealed in the closing credits. A deeply sobering portrayal of American crime and punishment.