Parents' Guide to

Amanda Knox

By Brian Costello, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Docu on sensationalized murder trial has graphic depictions.

Movie NR 2016 92 minutes
Amanda Knox Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

age 16+

Based on 1 parent review

age 16+

A tough but important documentary to watch.

A compelling documentary about a story I remember reading about on BBC News when it occurred. The film does a fine job of trying to reveal how everyone can think they're right and how that works to not be able to find "justice" for Meredith and incarcerate two young non-affluent people, and one young man who is still incarcerated. It is interesting how people are quick to draw their conclusions based on circumstantial evidence like, "she was behaving oddly" like there is a playbook when something egregiously traumatic happens that everyone knows to follow.
1 person found this helpful.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (1):
Kids say: Not yet rated

What distinguishes this movie from any other media coverage of Knox and those involved in her sensationalized murder trial is the attempt to dig deep and try to understand everyone involved. If anyone emerges as really and truly guilty, it's a media climate that favors sensationalized, exploitative, and just plain sleazy coverage of trials like these with readymade narratives involving attractive young women over devoting time to stories that demand nuance, substance, and importance to society as a whole. One of the saddest elements to Amanda Knox -- besides, of course, the gruesome murder of Meredith Kercher -- is the almost near-shameless complicity in which Tony Pisa, the tabloid reporter in the documentary who "broke" so many of the aspects to Amanda Knox's personal life (including obtaining her prison diary from an unnamed source) admits to exploiting the desires of so many media consumers for what amounts to little more than salacious gossip.

For those who closely followed the trial, it's hard to say whether or not this will change anyone's already made-up mind. However, what emerges from the documentary is that it's hard not to think of terms like "witch hunt," and it's Knox herself who makes the most compelling arguments for her innocence. But what especially makes this movie important is that while it certainly centers on the character assassinations, sloppy police work, and exploitative media coverage, it never lets the audience forget that the ultimate tragedy in all of this was that a young woman was brutally murdered.

Movie Details

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