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The true crime category has a new medium, or perhaps even a whole new language and structure: officer-worn camera recordings. Countenances of those harmed, observers and possible perpetrators loom up to the cameras, sometimes in the harsh glare of vehicle beams or flashlights as the police arrive, their expressions and tones eloquent of wariness or fear or anger or suspiciously contrived innocence. And we often catch sight of the expressions of the officers themselves, one standing by blankly while the other asks the questions with what occasionally seems like extraordinary diffidence – though perhaps this is because they are aware they are being recorded.

A Growing Trend in Documentary Filmmaking

We have previously seen the Netflix true-crime documentary American Murder: Gabby Petito, about the killing of an social media personality by her boyfriend, whose main point of interest was officer recordings 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 tragic incident of Ajike Owens in Ocala, Florida, a woman of colour whose four young kids reportedly bothered and tormented her white neighbour, Susan Lorincz. In 2023, after an increasing number of neighborhood conflicts in which the authorities were summoned multiple times, the accused fatally shot Owens through her closed front door, when the victim went to the neighbor's residence to address her about hurling items at her children.

The Investigation and State Laws

The arresting officers found evidence that the suspect had done online research into the state's self-defense statutes, which allow residents and others to use firearms if there is a significant presumption of threat. The movie constructs its narrative with the body cam footage generated during the multiple officer calls to the location before the shooting, and then at the horrific and chaotic incident site itself – introduced by 911 audio material of Lorincz calling the police in a dramatically trembling voice. There is also police cell footage of the individual which has a disturbing, unsettling appeal.

Portrayal of the Accused

The film does not really suggest anything too complicated about Lorincz, or any mitigating factors. She is clearly unstable, although the children are heard calling her “the Karen”, an hurtful taunt. The production is presented as an illustration of how self-defense regulations lead to senseless and tragic bloodshed. But the fact of firearm possession and the constitutional right (that longstanding U.S. legal right that a deceased pundit famously claimed made firearm fatalities a necessary cost) is not much emphasized.

Officer Questioning and Gun Culture

It is feasible to watch the police interrogation scenes here and feel astonished at how little interest the police took in this point. 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? How was the gun kept in her home? 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 commonplace it would be like asking about microwaves or toasters?

Detention and Consequences

For what appeared to her neighbors a very long time, Lorincz was not even arrested and charged, only held and even offered a hotel stay away from home for the night (another parallel, incidentally, with the Gabby Petito case). 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 handcuffs, not aggressively, but with the courteously pathetic demeanor of someone whose mental health means that she is unable to comply. Did the gentle handling 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 closing credits. A deeply sobering portrayal of U.S. justice and consequences.