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The true crime genre has a new medium, or perhaps even a completely fresh vocabulary and structure: officer-worn camera recordings. Faces of victims, observers and possible perpetrators appear suddenly to the cameras, sometimes in the intense brightness of headlights or flashlights as the police arrive, their expressions and tones eloquent of wariness or panic or anger or suspiciously contrived innocence. And we often incidentally glimpse 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 know they are being recorded.

A Growing Trend in Non-Fiction Cinema

We have previously seen the Netflix true-crime documentary American Murder: Gabby Petito, about the slaying of an social media personality by her boyfriend, whose main point of interest was body cam footage and in which, as in this film, the law enforcement seemed extraordinarily lax with the perpetrator. There is also the acclaimed short film Incident by Bill Morrison, 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 reportedly bothered and antagonized her neighbor, a local resident. In 2023, after an increasing number of neighbour-dispute incidents in which the police were summoned multiple times, the accused fatally shot Owens through her closed front door, when the victim 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 the suspect had done online research into the state's self-defense statutes, which allow residents and others to shoot if there is a reasonable belief of danger. The movie constructs its narrative with the body cam footage generated during the repeated police visits 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 melodramatically shaky voice. There is also police cell footage of the individual which has a chilly, queasy fascination.

Depiction of the Suspect

The film does not really suggest anything too complex about Lorincz, or any extenuating circumstance. She is clearly unstable, although the kids are heard calling her a derogatory term, an ugly jibe. The production is presented as an example of how self-defense regulations lead to unnecessary and heartbreaking violence. But the fact of firearm possession and the constitutional right (that historic American constitutional privilege that a deceased pundit famously claimed made gun deaths a price worth paying) is not much highlighted.

Police Interrogation and Firearm Norms

It is possible to watch the officer questioning segments here and feel surprised at how little interest the police took in this aspect. At what time did she purchase the firearm? Where (if anywhere) did she train in its use? Was this the first time she discharged the weapon? Where did she store it in the house? Could it have been easily accessible and prepared? The authorities aren’t shown asking any of these surely relevant questions (though they could have inquired 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?

Detention and Consequences

For what seemed to her local residents a extended period, Lorincz was not even taken into custody and indicted, only detained and even offered a hotel stay away from home for the night (another parallel, by the way, with the Gabby Petito case). And when she was ultimately formally arrested in the detention area, there is an remarkable scene in which the individual simply declines to rise, refuses to put her wrists out for the cuffs, not aggressively, but with the politely self-pitying air of someone whose psychological state means that she is unable to comply. Did the gentle handling up until that point encouraged her to think that this might actually work?

Conclusion and Verdict

It was not successful; and the panel's decision is saved for the closing credits. A very sombre portrayal of U.S. justice and consequences.