Casting JonBenet

Casting JonBenet is an intriguing fusion of documentary and dramatic re-enactment that presents a unique perspective on one of America's most high-profile unsolved murder cases. The film is directed and produced by Australian filmmaker Kitty Green and features actors Hannah Cagwin, Aeona Cruz, and Liv Bagley in key roles. Through these promising actors and extras from the local community, Green concocts a thoughtful illustration of how public fascination, mythology, and collective memories converge around a real-life tragedy.

The movie investigates the grisly 1996 murder of six-year-old beauty pageant winner JonBenet Ramsey, one of the most sensational non-resolved murder cases in Colorado's history. Rather than following the conventional linear documentation, Green opted for a unique direction that journeys deep into the community's psyche.

Instead of serving up theories about the crime's actual events, Casting JonBenet is more of a conceptual exploration that lays bare the raw feelings people still have about it. It is centred on various local actors auditioning for the roles of John, Patsy, and Burke Ramsey, and other real-life figures associated with the case featuring pseudo-documentary presentations laced with dramatic monologues by would-be actors.

Each audition provides an avenue to delve into the individual’s theory about what happened, their personal thoughts on the case or how it has shaped them, and sometimes how it mirrors their experiences. During these auditions, various actors deliver their assumptions, biases, or theories about the case, disclosing their individual emotional connections to it.

The narrative alternates between interviews with the would-be cast and their auditions, with each sequence offering the actors' reflections on the case and its enduring legacy. With a plethora of perspectives, theories, and personal experiences being discussed, truth and speculations become increasingly entangled.

Hannah Cagwin and Aeona Cruz play the roles of audtionees for JonBenet’s mother and her older half-sister, respectively. Liv Bagley is among the several actors that audition for the role of JonBenet herself. Regardless of whether or not they resemble the real-life figures, each performer interprets the characters based on their perspective. In their acting, they dig deep into the emotional core of the characters, revealing deeper levels of empathy and understanding.

One of the film's most striking features is its cinematography, which beautifully captures the setting's mundane textures, lending an eerie yet grounded feel to the narrative. The setting is Boulder, Colorado, which has its haunting charm as the backdrop for this tale. Also noteworthy are the reenactment scenes that are expertly choreographed, effectively blurring the line between fiction and reality.

Rather than drawing conclusions, the movie seems to intentionally magnify uncertainties, focusing on the human propensity to project personal emotions onto tragic events. It accentuates the duality that exists within every character involved in the tragedy – are they victims? Are they guilty? Are they misunderstood?

The film doesn't strive towards revealing the truth behind the murder or finding someone to blame; instead, it prompts us to reflect on society's ongoing obsession with crime, public trials and real-life tragedies. Casting JonBenet is a meticulous examination of human curiosity about grim events that prompt us to question our understanding of reality, create narratives around it, and how we may use these narratives as a conduit for our experiences.

Casting JonBenet is a haunting emotional dive into a community's mindset two decades after a tragic event. Viewers should be prepared for a film that dissects the impact of a crime on the people who weren't directly involved but touched by it nonetheless. Using a veil of mystery, it presents an unsettling reflection of societal curiosity about true crimes, making it an unconventional addition to the catalog of documentaries about infamous crimes.