The Catholic Weekly 24 May 2020

catholicweekly.com.au 21 24, May, 2020 VISTA WILL BE TAKING A SHORT BREAK ... But watch this page for more interesting news locally and from around the world A stacked deck from the beginning IN 2004, 16-year-old sex-traf- ficking victim in the US, Cyn- toia Brown, was arrested for the murder-robbery of a man who had apparently agreed to pay her for sex, Johnny Al- len. Tried as an adult, she was convicted and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. More than a decade later, reality TV star Kim Kardashi- an was among the prominent advocates lobbying for an end to Brown’s incarceration. Their efforts proved success- ful in 2019 when Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam com- muted Brown’s sentence to 15 years, and she was subse- quently released. Brown’s cause was also helped by filmmaker Daniel Birman’s raw and intimate documentary Me Facing Life: Cyntoia’s Story , which aired as part of PBS’ “Independent Lens” series in 2011. To make the film, Birman tracked Brown’s trial and imprison- ment for six years. His second profile of her, Murder to Mer- cy: The Cyntoia Brown Story , is streaming now on Netflix. Commendable, if une- ven and rather prosaic, the 96-minute film is rated TV- MA – mature audiences only. That’s appropriate given that the challenging topics it covers include, besides those already referred to, rape, sui- cide, child abuse, domestic vi- olence and narcotics use. Still, to his credit, Birman does deal with these matters in a sensitive and thoughtful way. In Murder to Mercy , Bir- man assumes that his viewers are coming to the facts about Brown with no prior knowl- edge of her case. And his scope is even broader than it was in the earlier movie since he recounts in detail all the significant events from her ar- rest to her release. After a rushed prologue, he first focuses on the court hear- ing held to determine wheth- er Brown should be tried as an adult. Part of the evidence in that proceeding was given by Vanderbilt University forensic psychiatrist William Bernet, whose interviews with Brown had convinced him that she suffered from “a serious per- sonality disorder.” Brown’s defence aimed for a best-case scenario un- der which, with therapy and a good residential program, Brown could be freed at age 19. The prosecution, unsur- prisingly, emphasised the harsh nature of her crime, shooting Allen as he slept in order to rob him. As Brown herself admits, in an admira- bly forthright confession to her adoptive mother, Ellen- ette, “I executed him.” Birman argues compelling- ly that the criminal justice sys- tem punished Brown unfairly because it failed to account for a number of factors. One was her experience of being trafficked. Another was the harmful impact genera- tional pathology within her family had on her. Some of the documentary’s most evocative passages re- call how biology ineluctably caught Brown up in a web of decades-long violence and abuse. Her biological mother, Georgina Mitchell, was the same age when she became a mother as Brown was when she killed Allen. Drinking vodka and taking crack while pregnant led to Georgina’s im- prisonment at 17. While only in the second grade, Mitchell had witnessed her own mother Joan War- ren’s suicide by shooting, which may help to explain much of her behaviour. And the cycle went further back: Warren had been raped and beaten by her husband. Despite this troubled herit- age, Brown eventually earned her bachelor’s degree from Lipscomb University. In an ironic twist, Preston Shipp, her former prosecutor, became both her professor and her supporter. He de- scribes Brown as “a beautiful, intelligent, caring woman His presentation emphasises the first half of Brown’s story and the legal issues surrounding her trial and ap- peal. But the audience doesn’t learn enough about the offender’s efforts to reform herself.” Little chance from the beginning: Cyntoia Brown speaks during a court hearing. ENTERTAINMENT THE WRETCHED STREAMING ON VUDU WHAT’S A red-blooded young fellow to do when a witch who preys on little children moves in next door? For the answer, grown movie fans can consult The Wretched . Writers, directors and brothers Brett and Drew Pierce blend nostalgic notes from 1980s adolescent-aimed comedies into their middling horror tale. So when their protagonist – awkward, slightly dim but likeable Ben (John-Paul How- ard) – isn’t going up against the supernatural, he finds time to swig hard liquor, vom- it while he’s drunkenly trying to kiss and get tricked into skinny-dipping while every- one else stays dressed. But then it’s back to the task at hand. Ben’s parents are pre- paring to divorce and, as part of that process, he’s just been lobbed from mum’s custody to that of his dad. No sooner has Ben settled into his new home, though, than Abbie (Zarah Mahler), the otherwise ordinary neigh- bour lady, begins behaving strangely. As the audience knows, and as Ben begins to suspect, Abbie is playing host to an ancient malevolent sor- ceress. The only person Ben has a shot of convincing that awitch hunt is warranted seems to be Mallory (Piper Curda), his co-worker at the marina with whom he’s smitten. The series mostly goes light on the bloodletting, at least until The Wretched reaches its somewhat grisly climax. Along with the violence, how- ever, there’s more than a hint of collateral voyeurism. The parents of Ben’s re- al-life contemporaries should note, accordingly, that this is questionable fare at best. The film contains occult themes, much horror may- hem with momentary but in- tense gore and gruesome im- ages, underage drinking, rear and partial upper female nu- dity, a couple of profanities, considerable crude and crass language and an obscene ges- ture. - CNS ¾ ¾ John Mulderig Horror series is bottom of the barrel MURDER TO MERCY: THE CYNTOIA BROWN STORY STREAMING ON NETFLIX who can make things better in this world.” Its difficult con- tent notwithstanding, there’s much that will edify viewers in Murder to Mercy . But Birman’s strictly linear storytelling works against the documentary. His presenta- tion emphasises the first half of Brown’s story and the legal issues surrounding her trial and appeal. But the audience doesn’t learn enough about the of- fender’s efforts to reform her- self. We don’t see her, for in- stance, pursuing her degree or interacting with other stu- dents nor do we gain much insight into her motive for transforming herself. Viewers who have to choose between the two would be well advised to watch Birman’s earlier ac- count of Brown’s history in which she comes much more sharply into focus. - CNS ¾ ¾ John Mulderig