One of the most emotional documentaries I've watched in a while. It largely transcends it's made-for-tv limitations/budget by being a gripping, heavy, and very well-told story, particularly once it's set up all the pieces. It explores a horrifying story in a clear and heartbreaking way, and the way it unpacks and criticises the institutions that made such an injustice happen is powerful.
I'd like to think this would at least be a little eye-opening for those who might have more faith in the system than me. I think of the things it did visually, in this regard, like emphasising a trivial news story that took up the bulk of a front page while a story on the Vincent Chin murder got relegated to the a smaller section at the bottom. And the way it focuses in on Chin's mother's clenched, shaking fist during one scene near the end- that was visceral.
As long as you can look over some of its technical limitations, it's an excellent documentary, though as a warning, it's hard to watch. The content might not be visually graphic, but the subject matter is disturbing, and it's hard to grapple with and confront just how unjust and awful the story here is.
Anyone affiliated with Netflix who works on crime documentaries should watch this and take notes: this is how you tell a challenging crime-related story in less than 90 minutes, whilst being clear yet not dumbing anything down, and you don't even need much of a budget to do it.
