This week we finally watched Primetime, Lance Oppenheim's first fiction feature, starring Robert Pattinson as To Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen. We get into what it means to turn child predator stings into primetime entertainment, why the casting works (and where it doesn't), and whether a documentarian's eye makes this story better or just shinier. We also go through Oppenheim's earlier work, including Spermworld, and Pattinson's run of strange, brilliant choices.

Then we bring it home. How much of Indian TV news learned its tricks from American pop culture, why our media chases the sensational story but rarely looks at itself, and the moral questions every viewer should be asking. Also - the review is split because one of us likes it and one of us doesn't - both for solid reasons.

We wrap up HBO's A Killer Story. Episode 3 opens with a neighbour who swears she saw Dana Chandler on the night of the murders, until the records prove otherwise. The second trial hangs, and prosecutors go again. Then Dana dismisses her attorneys and represents herself, testifying for the first time in over two decades.

As two documentary filmmakers, we spend this one on the craft as much as the case and talk about what we'd have done as producers, and why a series built on obsession loses its main characters by the end.

BONUS EPISODE WHILE WE WAIT FOR A KILLER STORY


CONTENT WARNING: domestic abuse, coercive control, suicide. Spoilers for the whole thing. Netflix made a three-part doc about Mica Miller, told entirely from her side, and then forgot to put her name in the title. So naturally, we had notes.


We are two filmmakers who watch true crime docs, and this might be a hit piece. On the menu today: sermons as a public confession booth, the Brangelina era of Solid Rock, a husband who announces his wife's death as a PS, the AI voice recreation nobody asked for, everything the filmmakers left on the cutting room floor, and the unhinged section of the podcast, where we turn into TikTok detectives.

Takeaways

• The portrayal of Micah Miller in the documentary is one-sided, with a focus on her relationship with JP Miller and the control he exerted over her.
• The documentary raises questions about the church's influence on marriage and gender dynamics, as well as allegations of sexual control and depravity. The weaponization of faith and its impact on individuals
• The importance of community response and legal action in cases of abuse Complexity of the case
• Influence of public interest on legal proceedings

Chapters

• 00:00 Introduction to the Doc
• 02:11 The Filmmakers and Their Previous Work
• 03:14 The 911 Call and the Discovery of the Body
• 04:31 Micah's Early Life and Involvement in the Church
• 07:54 Micah's Relationship with JP Miller
• 17:22 The Control and Coercive Behavior of JP Miller
• 20:03 Allegations of Sexual Control and Depravity
• 23:27 The Church's Influence on Marriage and Gender Dynamics
• 24:36 Weaponization of Faith
• 25:43 Church Leadership and Protection
• 26:15 Susie Skinner's Involvement
• 27:16 AI Voice Recreation and 911 Call
• 31:36 JP Miller's History of Abuse
• 37:27 Legal Action and Community Response
• 39:25 JP Miller's Public Response
• 45:38 Marriage to Susie Skinner
• 46:38 Unraveling the Mystery
• 47:29 Theories and Allegations
• 48:46 Forensic Findings and Alibis
• 50:23 Mental Health and Guilt
• 52:16 Religious and Marital Pressures
• 54:35 Expanding Definitions of Abuse
• 56:39 The Impact of Social Media
• 01:04:21 The Need for Reopening the Case
  
  

Episode two of A Killer Story just handed us a new prime suspect, and we have feelings about it. Joe Sutton, Karen's son-in-law and a public prosecutor, goes from grieving family member to person of interest in about ten minutes flat. Eileen Umbehr's two-hundred-page dossier lays out the gun collection, the Uzi, the access to the house. We break down why the case against Dana suddenly looks a lot shakier, why the kids are the one thread nobody's pulling, and why Joe Sexton just told us straight up not to expect closure.

Spoilers ahead for episode two of A Killer Story, streaming on HBO Max (Jio Hotstar in India). Watch it first if you can, then come back and yell at us in the comments.

#AKillerStory #DanaChandler #JoeSutton #PersonOfInterest #EileenUmbehr #TrueCrimeRecap #TrueCrimePodcast #HBOMax #JioHotstar #DocumentaryReview #CrimeDocumentary #WatchAlongPodcast #JoeSexton #TrueCrimeCommunity #DocsMax

A Penpal, a Trashman and a Gorgeous Mane Walk into a Bar. This week we're covering Episode 1 of HBO's three-part true crime series "A Killer Story," centered on the Dana Chandler case. A journalist gets buried in emails from a stranger for two years before an "open and shut" murder case gets reopened, and what unfolds involves a fabricated court order, a DA with zero filter, and a couple who reshaped their entire lives chasing justice for someone they'd never met.

We're both in documentary filmmaking, so we're watching this less as true crime fans and more as two people picking apart why it works. We talk through the doc's structure, its choice to enter the story through a journalist instead of the people closest to the case, and what that says about how HBO builds a true crime doc differently than Netflix does. We also have so much to say about how Netflix decides its docu slate.

We are brave enough to lay out our theories for who else could be responsible, ahead of episode 2.

New episode drops the Thursday after each new installment of the doc airs. Watch the episode first, then come argue with us.