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Every true crime documentary comes with its own baggage. It asks viewers to ignore their moral dilemmas, usually for three episodes, and just roll with it. It also begs them not to worry about the discomfort that they might feel for enjoying a piece of entertainment born out of murder. Some documentaries do a better job than others, of course, but the ones on Netflix rarely deal in subtlety. The streamer has become somewhat synonymous with a particularly pulpy brand of true crime storytelling, which follows fixed templates with the loyalty of an apostle following Christ. The genre has morphed into something altogether monstrous in the years since Making a Murderer, and this week’s American Murder: Gabby Petito is a great example of what true crime has turned into.
For starters, the franchisification what could’ve been a stand-alone series reeks of exploitation. It’s giving Bhushan Kumar trying to shoehorn every random romantic drama under the name Aashiqui. The first American Murder documentary is still the premiere example of a true crime film successfully restraining itself from taking the scandalous route. The movie utilised a found-footage style, utterly bereft of commentary or editorialisation. Neither of these tactics are retained in the Gabby Petito series, which involves not only dramatic recreations, but also features numerous interviews with her family members.
Based on the rather recent murder of the 22-year-old Gabby, the series makes several attempts at gravitas. It asks us to not take the lives of social media influencers at face value, to observe signs of distress when they might not be apparent, and to question the prevalance of the ‘missing white girl syndrome’ — a term used to describe the disproportionate media attention given to attractive, fair-skinned women, as compared to the relative disinterest with which persons of colour are treated in similar circumstances. While insisting that it isn’t insensitive, however, the show falls into all the traps that it could’ve.
The one thing that it has going for it is the participation of Gabby’s separated parents, and their current spouses. In a way, she had two pairs of moms and dads. None of them could get in touch with her during the summer of 2021, after she had embarked on a cross-country road trip with her boyfriend, Brian. Gabby and Brian had quit their jobs at the onset of the pandemic, and had decided to document their journey through a YouTube series. This was the time when several young (and old) couples started their own ‘vanlife’ vlogs. Gabby would post just one video before going missing. She was eventually found several weeks later, her body in a decomposed state near a tree in the wilderness of Wyoming.
Her worried folks raised the alarm, but were made to go through reams of red tape before any action was initiated. Because Gabby went missing in a state that she didn’t belong to, there was a jurisdiction issue over which police department could even begin investigating her disappearance. It was a deeply frustrating time for her parents, and they weren’t receiving any response from Brian’s folks. Much to their shock, Brian had returned home with their van, all alone. He claimed that Gabby left by herself, and refused to cooperate with the cops without a lawyer present. His parents blocked every attempt by the police to get to the bottom of things. Things were beginning to look very fishy.
As media pressure mounted, Brian left his home and went missing himself. During this time, bodycam footage of a terrified Gabby being questioned by the cops after being pulled over was leaked to the press. The incident happened only a few days before her disappearance. The video showed Gabby visibly shaking after having a violent altercation with Brian in their van. According to one of her friends, Brian was a shady guy, and Gabby had often hinted at how controlling he was. A day before she went missing, she contacted an ex and told him that she was contemplating leaving Brian. CCTV footage of them entering and exiting a Whole Foods — Brian could be seen banging the door of their van — was the last time that she’d be captured on camera.
It’s a tragic story, told in three fast-paced episodes. But despite the involvement of Gabby’s family and friends, and the several law enforcement officers who participated in the investigation, something feels incomplete. It could be because the show jumps to conclusions about what happened without really trying to fill in the blanks. We are told that Brian confessed to killing Gabby, but we never understand why. We also don’t understand why his parents began behaving so strangely after Gabby’s disappearance, and most frustratingly, what his mother meant by writing him an incriminating letter and instructing him to ‘burn (it) after reading’.
Towards the end, the series tries to strike a hopeful chord, as it follows Gabby’s family to the spot in the wilderness where her body was found. They smile and make merry, shielding their grief behind put-on optimism. They’re giving a performance, for themselves; it’s the only way they can cope with their loss, perhaps. But there is no excuse for why American Murder: Gabby Petito insists on giving a performance for us.
American Murder: Gabby Petito
Directors – Michael Gasparro, Julia Willoughby Nason
Rating – 2.5/5
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