Roll Red Roll

This solid post-#MeToo documentary illuminates the facts of an infamous case, delivering a stinging indictment of rape culture. In 2012, Steubenville was a town without pity for Jane Doe, at least according to interviews with locals and infuriating audio from a local radio personality, who said things like "these girls get intoxicated, they get promiscuous." Then, of course, there are the infamous texts and social media posts of the Steubenville teens who were either there or saw the posts, videos, and pictures from the night and replied that the victim got "trained," that she was "sloppy," and that "some people deserve to be peed on." In a pre-social media era, Jane Doe's terrible night might have played out without the world noticing; in fact, the blogger who first broke the story wonders tearfully at one point whether, by publicizing the victim's plight, she was helping her -- or whether she was just another one of her exploiters.

Those who read the 2012 news stories will already be familiar with the callousness of the girl's attackers and peers -- in fact, the social media "paper" trail was one of the most buzzed-about aspects of the case. But watching Roll Red Roll's video that shows onlookers laughing and joking about a girl who was, at the exact same moment, naked and unconscious in a basement ringed with boys who had bad intentions, absolutely has the power to shock and disgust. Even more viscerally upsetting is the audio captured during a Steubenville anti-rape rally. Woman after woman describes being held down, drugged, and abused, along with the aftermath: being blamed for her own rape, afraid and alone. The contrast between the laughing victimizers and the pained victims is appallingly clear, sending a powerful message about the need for change.