Gosnell: The Trial of America's Biggest Serial Killer (2018)

A movie about the crimes and trial of Kermit Gosnell, an American doctor and abortion provider who was convicted of killing three fetuses and the involuntary manslaughter of a woman who died during a procedure.

Director:

Nick Searcy

Writers:

Andrew Klavan (screenplay by), Ann McElhinney (screenplay by)

Stars:

Michael Beach, Dean Cain, Janine Turner

Cast

Credited cast:
Michael Beach	...	DA Dan Molinari
Dean Cain	...	Detective James Wood
Janine Turner	...	Dr. North
Nick Searcy	...	Mike Cohan
Cyrina Fiallo	...	Molly Mullaney
Sarah Jane Morris	...	Alexis 'Lexy' McGuire
Damon Carney	...	Ed McGuire
Earl Billings	...	Kermit Gosnell
Darryl Cox	...	Dr. Ray Morris
JR Hatchett	...	Tactical Officer
Dustin Wilson	...	D.E.A. Agent
Ben Hall	...	DEA Agent Sam Frye
Ariel Richardson	...	Pedestrian
Thomas Rivas	...	Tactical Officer
Desiree' Jones	...	Wedding Guest

Storyline

This police/court room drama is based on actual information on Dr. Kermit Gosnell (played by Earl Billings) who for decades ran a Philadelphia inner-city abortion clinic. In 2010, Philadelphia Police Detectives Wood (Dean Cain) and Stark (Alfonzo Rachel), with DEA and FBI agents, raid the clinic for evidence of illegal prescription drug sales. They are shocked by the clinic's filthy conditions, bags of aborted fetuses in hallways, and fetal body parts stored in a refrigerator. Interviewing clinic workers, they learn: patients are given anesthesia by untrained assistants; one patient died on the operating table from an anesthesia overdose; abortions were performed on babies older than 24 weeks; and some babies were delivered alive, after which Dr. Gosnell cut their spinal cord with scissors. The detectives take the bagged bodies to the coroner and bring the situation to the attention of DA Dan Molinari (Michael Beach). An Assistant DA (Sara Jane Morris) agrees to prosecute the murder ...

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Plot Keywords:

abortion clinic | serial killer | trial | abortion | aborted fetus | 

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Taglines:

He took an oath to protect life, not take it.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic content including disturbing images and descriptions

Did You Know?

Trivia

The process through which Detective James Woods came to be involved in the murder cases in the film follows what happened in real life. From the Grand Jury report: "During the drug-trafficking investigation, District Attorney's Detective James Wood learned from one of the clinic employees that a woman had died in November 2009, following an abortion procedure. Detective Wood discovered other disturbing details about Gosnell's medical practice. The premises were dirty and unsanitary. Gosnell routinely relied on unlicensed and untrained staff to treat patients, conduct medical tests, and administer medications without supervision. Even more alarmingly, Gosnell instructed unlicensed workers to sedate patients with dangerous drugs in his absence." Based on this information, Detective Wood believed that further investigation of the woman's death the previous November was warranted. The detective searched for a police report on the incident, but finding none, he went to the Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office to try to identify the woman and to find out more about her death. Detective Wood learned that the dead woman was Karnamaya Mongar, and that her toxicology report revealed an extremely high level of Demerol, a drug Gosnell used at the clinic to anesthetize patients.

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Goofs

In the film, Gosnell arrives at his clinic during the raid. In real life, law enforcement waited until Gosnell had arrived to enter the building themselves.

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Quotes

Detective James Wood: Karnamaya Mongar, 41 years old, her husband and her and her kid get chased out of Bhutan for some ethnic cleansing bullshit, I don't know what it is. They spend 20 years in a straw hut in a refugee camp at Nepal, only to finally, *finally*, make it to the good old USA. 4 months later she goes in for a procedure with Dr. Oxy, now she's dead and no one seems to give a damn.
Alexis 'Lexy' McGuire: You seem to give a damn.
Detective James Wood: I do!
DA Dan Molinari: What kind of procedure?
Detective James Wood: Abortion!

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Crazy Credits

Just before the credits start rolling, a note is added that the actual photo taken of "Baby Boy A" by a Gosnell employee can be seen at GosnellMovie.com.

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Connections

Featured in Tucker Carlson Tonight: Episode dated 16 April 2019 (2019)

User Reviews

Surprisingly Good

Saw the movie today. Was not sure what I was going to get. I only went because I was interested in the actual case, and also was relieved by what I had seen that it mostly stays apolitical and lets the story speak for itself. I was pleased to see what I had read/heard was generally accurate. The script was tight, and generally the acting was excellent (Jeanine Turner's character felt the most mis-cast/off, and the blogger, pivotal to making the case go in the movie feels a bit to convenient as a writer's artifice). Production-wise, the greatest weakness was the cinematography. At times the framing just wasn't up to snuff. Searcy does a great job as both a director and actor, Other actors that stand out are Sarah Jane Morris (she undergoes a believable character arc) and Earl Monte is calmly disturbing in the titular role.

That said the movie flowed well, and though there could be many gross-out/gore scenes, they were avoided, and instead what was unseen was what turned my stomach the most.

My biggest complaint where I think they makers went to far and showed their bias was in the closing credits as the included some photos of the crime scene. Nothing overly disturbing (one may be a bit much), but I prefer they had just given the web link for those interested - which they do with one image key to making the case that obviously would have went to far.

I will recommend this movie, and would score it a solid 7 out of 10.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 October 2018 (USA)

Also Known As:

Gosnell: The Trial of America's Biggest Serial Killer

Filming Locations:

Oklahoma, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,162,988, 14 October 2018

Gross USA:

$3,679,893

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$3,679,893

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hat Tip Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Color:

Color