Tales Of The Grim Sleeper, movie review: Nick Broomfield's compassionate documentary gives victims' families a voice
(15) Nick Broomfield, 110 mins
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.In this admirable, compassionate documentary, Nick Broomfield undertakes research that should have been done by the Los Angeles Police Department more than 20 years ago.
His subject is ostensibly the alleged serial killer Lonnie Franklin Jr (nicknamed the Grim Sleeper), who may have killed more than 100 women over a 25-year period, but the real focus is Franklin's community in a deprived part of South LA.
Broomfield is able to win the trust of Franklin's neighbours and friends – even of Lonnie's volatile son. The circumstantial evidence he digs up against Franklin is overwhelming. He reveals just how badly the community was served by the LAPD.
As several interviewees tell him, if the victims had been blonde-haired, middle-class white women from a more affluent neighbourhood, the cops would have gone to extreme lengths to track down the killer.
Many, though, were black prostitutes or drug addicts – and the police seemingly didn't think their deaths worth investigating. By doing the cops' work for them, Broomfield gives the victims' families a voice and treats them with a respect the authorities denied them.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments