Review of the Netflix docuseries Should I Marry a Murderer Rating *****
Do the right thing. That is the message of this excellent three-part docuseries on Netflix. This is one of those stories that you will want to binge in one sitting. It’s that compelling. There are so many stories where someone has knowledge of a crime, but they do not come forward until years later, in some cases while innocent people waste away in prison. Caroline Muirhead is not one of those people. She learned of a crime, committed by someone she was engaged to marry, and chose to come forward to the police despite the ramifications to her personally and to her fiancé and his brother.
There have been a number of documentaries where the story is told by the main participant or participants talking directly to the camera. Netflix just released two other documentary series that use this technique to great effect: The Predator of Seville and the Shooting on Hawthorne Hill. Like these other films, Should I Marry a Murderer supplements the narrative with reenactments and interviews with other key players. But the star here is Caroline.
Like many people today, especially Caroline’s age, social media plays a big role in their lives. Caroline documented everything. Her videos and images shared on social media are used to help tell her story. But it’s Caroline’s own words that stand out. She doesn’t hold back. She lets viewers into her mind as she goes from that first date with Sandy to the day of the trial. It is a roller-coaster of emotions. I loved her honesty, her humor, her frankness. I loved how she described Sandy the first time she met him. I loved how when her wedding dress arrived, after she had given the police the information they needed to make an arrest, she decided to try it on just so she could feel what it would have been like had things worked out differently.
If there is one single thing that makes any story compelling, it is conflict. This story has conflict at every turn. She loves this person, but at the same time, he did something that is unforgivable. The worst part is the complete lack of empathy for the victim by Sandy. That is the part that ultimately leads Caroline to the right decision. There are family members and friends of the victim who loved him and need answers as to what happened to him. But betraying someone she loves is not so black and white.
Caroline makes some bad decisions along the way, but you can’t help but feel for her as she talks about how torn she was as she weighs the pros and cons of each decision. On the first day of the trial, with her set to testify, Caroline makes another in a long line of bad decisions and flees. She documents her actions with a series of videos as she searches for a key piece of evidence while helicopters circle overhead. She even steels a tractor, where she has to read the manual to figure out how to operate it.
While all of this turmoil is going on inside Caroline’s mind, she is surrounded by the beauty of the Scotland highlands. The filmmakers smartly make the landscape another layer in the story. The hills, mountains, streams, and waterfalls all stand in contrast to the burden carried by this one individual. The landscape even plays a key role in solving the crime thanks to Caroline’s quick thinking and a can of Red Bull.
Do not miss this one!