The Family I Had somehow makes Making a Murderer look tame. Watching a family deal with survivor’s guilt and the understanding that the teen son they knew could be a killer is heartbreaking. Most of these documentaries deal in a degree of ambiguity. However, what do you do when a 13 year old immediately admits to stabbing his 4 year old sister to death? There’s no emotion or direct remorse. It’s a cold declaration of facts.
Investigation Discovery does an amazing job of not getting in Katie Green or Carlye Rubin’s way of presenting the case. Honestly, if more true crime documentaries could function like this…my issues with the format would disappear immediately. Filmmakers don’t need to dress up reality, it’s dark enough as it exists.
The Family I Had is now available!
