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Parents' Guide to

Murder by the Coast

By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 14+

Woman is wrongly accused due to homophobia; violence.

Movie PG-13 2021 88 minutes
Murder by the Coast Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

Community Reviews

age 18+

Based on 1 parent review

age 18+

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Is It Any Good?

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

While Murder by the Coast exposes the unfairness of a police investigation based on homophobic bias, it otherwise presents its subjects in a fairly routine, bland, and unimaginative manner. Like any number of other documentaries about murders, this one relies on TV news clips and headlines from newspapers of the time, as if the filmmakers were following a step-by-step guide on how to make a generic documentary. Lots of slow pans of the bedrooms of dead girls and overhead shots of local fields and roadways are used as visual filler, adding nothing while the audio of talking-head interviews runs.

Movie Details

  • On DVD or streaming: June 23, 2021
  • Director: Tania Ballo
  • Studio: Netflix
  • Genre: Documentary
  • Run time: 88 minutes
  • MPAA rating: PG-13
  • Last updated: February 19, 2023

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