Anna Daniels
Netflix knows we can’t get enough of its true crime documentaries, so there’s another one on the way later this month. It’s called Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story, and it centers on the case of a girl who was arrested for murdering a much older man who picked her up for sex. Was she really at fault? Did the system fail her? How does time change perception? Check out the new trailer below.
Murder to Mercy Trailer
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eb2Ce6mj-iI?feature=oembed&w=740&h=416]
The movie is directed by Daniel H. Birman, who has previously directed docs about Captain Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger (the pilot behind the “Miracle on the Hudson,” who was played by Tom Hanks in Clint Eastwood’s Sully), fighter pilot Bob Hoover, and motorcycle racer Leslie Porterfield.
But most importantly, Birman directed a seven-part TV series called Sentencing Children back in 2016, which explored Cyntoia’s case in great detail. You can watch that entire series right now on PBS’s website if you’re looking to get a jump on what appears to be largely the same material that’s covered in Murder to Mercy, but there have been more developments in the case since that show wrapped up. If you’d like to experience the movie spoiler-free, I recommend avoiding its official synopsis, but for those of you who want to know more about what happens at the end of this chapter of Cyntoia’s story, read on:
In 2004, 16-year-old Cyntoia Denise Brown was arrested in Nashville, Tennessee, for murdering a 43-year-old man who picked her up for sex. She was tried as an adult and sentenced to life in prison — Cyntoia’s fate seemed sealed. The film shows the complexity of a child who was the product of three generations of violence against women in her biological family. And how in 2019, after nearly 10 years of legal challenges, Governor Bill Haslam granted her request for clemency. He did so following a slow shift in the state for legislative change in juvenile sentencing laws and having seen evidence of her maturity, education, and good behavior as a prisoner.
Murder to Mercy hits Netflix on April 29, 2020.
Cool Posts From Around the Web: Written by: Slash
