🔗 Share this article

The true crime genre has a new medium, or perhaps even a whole new language and structure: officer-worn camera recordings. Countenances of those harmed, witnesses and potential offenders appear suddenly to the cameras, at times in the intense brightness of headlights or flashlights as the officers approach, their faces and voices eloquent of caution or panic or indignation or dubiously feigned naivety. And we often incidentally glimpse the faces of the law enforcement personnel, one standing by blankly while the other asks the questions with what sometimes seems like extraordinary diffidence – though maybe this is because they know they are being recorded.

A Growing Trend in Non-Fiction Cinema

We have already had the streaming service true-crime documentary American Murder: Gabby Petito, about the killing of an Instagram influencer by her partner, whose main point of interest was body cam footage and in which, as in this film, the police seemed extraordinarily lax with the suspect. There is also the acclaimed short film Incident by Bill Morrison, made exclusively of body cam film. Now comes Geeta Gandbhir’s documentary about the grim case of a Florida mother in a city in Florida, a African American woman whose four young kids allegedly harassed and tormented her neighbor, a local resident. In 2023, after an increasing number of neighborhood conflicts in which the authorities were summoned multiple times, the accused shot Owens dead through her closed front door, when Owens went to Lorincz’s house to address her about hurling items at her children.

The Investigation and State Laws

The arresting officers found proof that the suspect had done internet searches into the state's self-defense statutes, which allow residents and others to use firearms if there is a significant presumption of threat. The documentary constructs its narrative with the officer recordings captured during the multiple officer calls to the scene before the shooting, and then at the horrific and chaotic incident site itself – prefaced by 911 audio material of Lorincz contacting authorities in a melodramatically shaky voice. There is also jail video of Lorincz which has a chilly, queasy fascination.

Depiction of the Suspect

The film does not really imply anything too complex about Lorincz, or any extenuating circumstance. She is obviously disturbed, although the children are heard calling her a derogatory term, an ugly jibe. The production is showcased as an illustration of how “stand your ground” laws lead to unnecessary and heartbreaking bloodshed. But the fact of gun ownership and the constitutional right (that longstanding U.S. legal right that a late commentator famously claimed made gun deaths a necessary cost) is not much emphasized.

Police Interrogation and Gun Culture

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? Did she receive any instruction on handling it? Had she ever had occasion to fire it before? Where did she store it in the house? Could it have been easily accessible and prepared? The police aren’t shown asking any of these undoubtedly important questions (though they could have inquired in footage that were not included). Or is possessing a firearm so normal it would be like asking about microwaves or bread heaters?

Arrest and Aftermath

For what appeared to her local residents a extended period, the suspect was not even taken into custody and indicted, only detained and even provided accommodation 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 holding cell, there is an extraordinary sequence in which Lorincz simply declines to rise, will not extend her arms for the cuffs, not hostilely, but with the politely self-pitying air of someone whose mental health means that she is unable to comply. Had the kid-gloves treatment up until that point led her to think that this might actually work?

Conclusion and Verdict

It didn’t; and the panel's decision is saved for the end titles. A very sombre picture of American crime and punishment.