Fun isn't likely the word you'll use to describe Netflix's latest addictive docu-series Making A Murderer. Over the 10-episode series detailing Steven Avery's trial for the murder of local photographer Teresa Halbach, you'll be disgusted and angered by the apparent injustice facing Avery and his family time and again.
You'll be saddened by the devastation felt by those in support of Avery's innocence. You'll be annoyed by the seemingly deliberate ignorance and incompetence of the law enforcement officers surrounding Avery's case. But most of all, you'll binge watch this series over a single weekend, then tell all your friends and readers to watch it too.
Steven Avery was 23 years old when he was first brought in as a suspect for the rape and attempted murder of a local woman in 1985, despite numerous alibis establishing his whereabouts during the time of the crime as well as mismatching physical characteristics as described by the victim.
Avery spent 18 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, and was only released in 2003 when modern DNA analysis technology ruled him out as the perpetrator. Following his release, Avery's attorneys uncovered evidence that suggested gross misconduct on the part of local law enforcement officers, which resulted in his arrest. This prompted Avery to file a lawsuit against the Manitowoc County police for US$36 million (1.28 billion baht) in reparations.
Before his case against the police could go anywhere, however, Avery was arrested again in 2005 as a suspect in the disappearance of local photographer Teresa Halbach, who was last seen on Avery's compound taking photos of his cars. Despite many suspicious pieces of evidence and questionable protocols of investigation by the involved police department, Avery was sentenced to life in prison in 2007.
Told entirely through interviews, audio excerpts, news footage and courtroom videos, Making A Murderer is a brutally frank documentary about real people with real struggles against a real figure of authority. Unlike fictionalised series which tend to feature charismatic or morally ambiguous main characters to make it easier for audiences to root for (or against), Steven Avery is very much your typical low-income, low-education everyman, slurring his way through sentences with broken grammar and mumbled words. He is neither articulate in his speech, nor is he a deep or complicated thinker. It is Avery's very visible flaws, however, that make his plight so much more human and heartbreaking. You can't help but think that something like this could very realistically happen to you too.
Directors Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos completely remove themselves from the series, giving it a more objective, journalistic feel compared to documentaries where the director injects their own thoughts and feelings into the story by narrating it themselves. Every line of dialogue spoken in this series comes from the real people involved in the case, such as Avery's family members or lawyers. This doesn't only give the series a more genuine quality, but it also serves to paint a broader picture of Avery's life outside of the case, further humanising him and his predicament. This isn't to say that the series is entirely free from bias. Making A Murderer isn't so much about the outcome of Avery's trial as it is about the suspicious actions of the Manitowoc County government and their determination to make Steven Avery a murderer (hence the title). Right from the get-go, you'll notice that the directors aren't interested in debating Avery's innocence. In the context of the series and its producers, Avery is innocent, a victim of a system and those who would use it to their own agenda.
The series' episodic nature does wonders to create a dynamic for the case, with every episode building up to a major development such as the discovery of new evidence or witnesses. This method of storytelling gives the show a relentlessly addictive quality, as I genuinely wanted to know what kind of repercussions that revelation at the end of the last episode would play out. It's a testament to the quality of editing that went into this series, as the pacing of events rarely ever feels dull or unnecessary.
Every bit of lawyer-speak works to give significance to certain details of the case, and every tangential cutaway from the case to focus on Avery's family works to make the whole story more human and relatable. Whether you believe in Avery's innocence or not, Making A Murderer is worth a watch simply for being one of the most unsettling real-world cases of possible police corruption. This should prove a timely subject for us here in Thailand, what with the situation regarding the controversial Koh Tao murder case. You can find the first episode in its entirety on Netflix's YouTube channel.
Following the series' release on Netflix, Ken Kratz, the prosecutor who represented the Manitowoc County government against Avery, spoke to The New York Times, sharing that there were many pieces of evidence that were omitted from the series that played a pivotal role in the jury's decision to find Avery guilty. While the legitimacy of his claims is still being disputed by many who believe in Avery's innocence, we believe it is important to share this with you for the sake of full disclosure.
