In 2018, 34-year-old Shanann Watts and her two young daughters disappear in Colorado. With the heartbreaking details emerging, the family's story made headlines around the world.... (Full plot summary below)
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In 2018, 34-year-old Shanann Watts and her two young daughters disappear in Colorado. With the heartbreaking details emerging, the family's story made headlines around the world.
Leave your thoughts about American Murder: The Family Next Door.
| The New York TimesBilal QureshiPopplewell’s film presents the Watts story as more than a crime story. It is a thematic film about marriage and the deception of social media, as well as a piercing examination of domestic violence constructed with care and undeniable craft. |
| IndieWireKate ErblandAn impeccably produced look at a heinous crime, Popplewell’s documentary meticulously weaves together a wealth of information . . . that it almost feels too readymade for the film treatment. Almost. |
| RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoThe result is a film that feels deeply personal, and not always in a good way. It’s a film that can’t help but feel a little like an invasion of privacy. |
| The Film StageJared MobarakMaybe my criticism of American Murder is more a criticism of the genre itself and how its desire to shed light on crimes inherently exploits them regardless of intent. Popplewell’s film is an expertly researched prologue to a much-needed conversation it avoids. |
| The PlaylistChris BarsantiAs an experiment in format, “America Murder” is intriguing. Instead of bringing people in to give fresh commentary, we have only the artifacts left behind by a seemingly ordinary family in a seemingly ordinary suburb. But as a documentary, it makes for an incomplete picture, like trying to piece together the story of an ancient disaster based only on archaeological fragments. |
| User Reviewjojo1256I knew this story. When I watched this I realized I didn't REALLY know the story. I was always looking for who or what caused him to do this. I sat in silence at the end and knew how wrong we are to do that. He and only he is responsible for his horrific actions. No one MADE him people loved him. His wife, his children, his girlfriend, his wife's family and his own family. The issue is he only loved himself. |
| User ReviewdesppunExcellent piece of filmmaking. The irony here is the filmmakers don’t realize that what they’re selling people is partially why these things happen in the first place. What the movie should be doing is talking about how society is f#%^ people from birth and treating them like disposable consumer slaves. The filmmakers promote the tabloid cliche of the supposed American dream gone bad. These people never had dreams. You could argue they never existed. Their deaths affect no one. The family was part of a system, and even their death was ultimately (re: immediately) manipulated/processed into more consumer trash. They became the superficial goods their own lives were built on. |
| User ReviewMarlaynaA really good documentary type movie. It brings up the topic of murder and affairs. It doesnt have gore or anything. I would let kids maybe 12 and over watch it. It is sad at parts where it shows Shannon's old Facebook and videos of them all healthy and happy. |
| User Reviewalejandro970Anatomy of a crime. What started out as a case of disappearance of people turned out to be a very deplorable crime. Without sensationalism and resorting to photographs, videos, testimonies of friends and relatives, and police records, it explains how and why an exemplary father committed such infamy. |
| User ReviewJLuis_001The documentary itself has nothing special, even with its form of presentation, because when it reaches a certain point, it seems like any other episode of a tv crime show, because despite the terrible tragedy it tells, the whole thing is nothing more than a recount for the sake of morbidity. |
