Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Reviews

‘Outcry’ (SXSW digital review)

Executive Produced by Vinnie Malhotra,
Stephen Espinoza, Pat Kondelis,
Michael H. Rockafellow,
Jody M. Wingrove, Stephen Germer
Produced by Lynsey Tamsen Jones
Written and Directed by Pat Kondelis

 

True crime tales are an evergreen genre (whether in tabloid, podcast, or mini-series form) because they tap into primal human emotions, including a basic need to know whodunit, while the best ones — a distinction which certainly applies to the new Showtime docuseries Outcry (based on the first two episodes made available to reviewers via the digital screening library of the COVID-cancelled SXSW 2020 multimedia festival) — articulate complex hot button topics as they challenge our own inherent biases and preconceived notions.

The five-part show (premiering April 24) begins with blurred-out footage of a four-year-old boy saying “With Greg?” when asked if he understands the concept of telling the truth during a 2014 sexual abuse investigation in Williamson County, a conservative Texas district defined as much by its strict “law and order” policing as it is by the community’s passion for high school football, two core status quo fundamentals which instantly come into conflict when clues in the case lead to the arrest of a popular, clean-cut teenage football star named Greg Kelley.

The basic details of what happened next are easy enough to find online, though patient viewers might want to wait instead for Showtime’s compelling depiction of the tale’s ensuing twists and revelations.

Yet even those with full knowledge of the incident may find themselves fascinated by director Pat Kondelis’s exploration of the attendant controversies, from assumptions of victims’ rights and new theories of child psychology to the unpredictable intersection of politics and justice in modern-day America.

 

 

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

DISCLAIMER

Forces of Geek is protected from liability under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and “Safe Harbor” provisions.

All posts are submitted by volunteer contributors who have agreed to our Code of Conduct.

FOG! will disable users who knowingly commit plagiarism, piracy, trademark or copyright infringement.

Please contact us for expeditious removal of copyrighted/trademarked content.

SOCIAL INFLUENCER POLICY

In many cases free copies of media and merchandise were provided in exchange for an unbiased and honest review. The opinions shared on Forces of Geek are those of the individual author.

You May Also Like

Movies

From the earliest Gen Con wargaming clubs in the 1960s to the Freaks and Geeks and Stranger Things kids rolling 20-sided dice in suburban...

Movies

Though not technically a musical, writer/director Fawzia Mirza’s The Queen of My Dreams is peppered with engaging song and dance numbers (both in the...

Reviews

I’ve been waiting for two years to watch the debut of the re-imagined Shōgun, one of my all-time favorite novels, and I’m happy to...

Reviews

In 2020, 12 Years A Slave Director Steve McQueen created a sweepingly cinematic anthology miniseries for the BBC called Small Axe about the lives...