For anyone who knows how American Murder: Gabby Petito (Netflix) ends, the beginning of this true crime documentary is horrific to the point of unwatchable. We see a young, outdoorsy couple living their best Instagram and YouTube life while driving a van across a stunning desert landscape in the southwestern United States. She (Petito) is outgoing and chatty, he (Brian Laundrie) more reticent but still all smiles. But then she goes missing, and their “Vanlife” social media feed is shown to be an illusion papering over a far darker reality. It is chilling.
Whether chronicling the killing in Schull, Co Cork of Sophie Toscan du Plantier or the disappearance in Portugal of Madeleine McCann, Netflix’s true crime output could not be accused of delicacy: it’s about hooking the audience rather than showing any sensitivity to the victims and their families, or making a broader point about violence in our societies (especially against women, whose deaths are grist for the true crime industrial complex).
Such prurience has been widely criticised: one UK newspaper slammed The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann as “a moral failure”. It is with those critiques presumably in mind that the streamer has proceeded with greater caution than usual with the three-part American Murder. The story is told from the perspective of Petito, who is given a voice through the participation of her family. It’s not much – but it is at least more sensitive than the standard Netflix stodge.
It is also about as far as the streamer is willing to depart from its true crime playbook. Otherwise, all the boxes are ticked. Petito’s parents recall her as fun-loving and always eager to see the best in people. A friend talks about how they bonded over their shared joie de vivre.
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Her fiance, Laundrie, is a different matter. We hear how he would take her ID to discourage her going out with friends. He also looks ill at ease in clips from the couple’s on-the-road travel blog – biting his tongue or forcing a smile for as long as the camera is rolling. Meanwhile, shocking bodycam footage captures the moment in which police pull over Petito and Laundrie, and it is revealed that her face is freshly bruised.
She is in tears; he claims he had “pushed her” when she became hysterical while the car was in motion. The police believe Laundrie, who is sent off to a hotel to recover, Petito left at the side of the road in her van. The story only grows darker from there, and you have to feel for Petito’s family, who remember their daughter as a talented artist full of life.
It is fair to say that Laundrie’s parents come across less sympathetically – after Petito goes missing and Laundrie is seen at their house, they direct all inquiries to their lawyer. Later, a letter is found in Laundrie’s backpack from his mother. It reads: “You are my boy, nothing can make me stop loving you ... If you’re in jail, I will bake a cake with a file in it. If you need to dispose of a body, I will show up with a shovel and garbage bags.”
It’s a stomach-turning coda to a serving of true crime fodder that, for all the co-operation of the victim’s family, is nonetheless firmly in the queasy Netflix tradition. Still, it has at least one important message: take a long, hard look at the person your daughter is dating.
