Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story (2020)
Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown StoryMovie on Netflix
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Why watch this film?
The case of Cyntoia Brown, a black female prostitute since adolescence and tried as an adult at sixteen for murder, gained renewed interest from activists in 2017 after her petition for clemency was rejected. It is not the first documentary on the subject either (there is already 'Me Facing Life: Cyntoia's Story' from 2011 by the same director), but 'Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story' arrives almost a decade of legal battles later, with new developments in the case. This Netflix production transcends the mere curiosity of typical documentaries about real crimes, as it not only tells the controversial case (with images of the allegations in court), but also explores the social conditions that lead a person down the path taken by Cyntoia.
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Plot summary
After 16-year-old Cyntoia Brown is sentenced to life in prison, questions about her past, physiology and the law itself call her guilt into question.
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