Ice Cold: Murder, Coffee and Jessica Wongso

A detailed look at the trial of Jessica Wongso, who was arrested and charged for murdering her best friend, Mirna Salihin, by spiking her iced coffee with cyanide.

It's a little over long, this could have been edited down into less than an hour, at times it's very slow and padded, which is a shame, as there's some good content.

It's a fairly interesting documentary, the case itself is pretty interesting, bud it's more of a study of Indonesia's legal system, being from The UK, it seems totally alien, one thing that doesn't differ around the world however, the scrutiny of the public and media.

I have actually been to Indonesia, I don't actually think this does anything to promote the country, it pretty much takes aim, and fires two barrels at the country, detailing the country's legal system failings, as well as the bias that exists.

Was Jessica guilty? I'm not convinced that this case was black and white.

6/10.

"The (Indonesian) criminal justice system needs to be reformed." That was probably the truest statement made in this documentary, which could also summarize the entire movie.

Their "expert" witnesses were highly dubious to say the least. They literally brought in a physiognomist (a sort of pseudoscientist judging someone's character based on their facial features) to testify in court! I was flabbergasted! I will not reveal the verdict in my review, so as to avoid spoilers. I have my own suspicions and probably agreed with the outcome. But suffice to say the methods they used to reach that outcome were shockingly backwards and therefore I think the verdict should have been different.

Obviously there are many beautiful aspects of the diverse Indonesian culture and people, but after watching this documentary I will not be planning a trip there anytime soon. No place is perfect, certainly not my own country (United States). But this documentary revealed some serious and frightening flaws in their society. I think it's worth a look, especially if you have even a passing interest in Indonesia.

Being from a legal family (American), I watched to see how it's done in Indonesia.

Now that country is off my bucket list!

The two things I took away from this documentary is: The family dictates how far a coroner can go in an autopsy. In this one, the police wanted a full autopsy, but the family didn't allow that. In this instance, they allowed only small blood samples. Nothing in depth.

Second - If you are not beautiful (and in the definition of Indonesian beauty), you are guilty - automatically in the eyes of everyone observing the trial!! Innocence is being beautiful! OMG! You can't make this stuff up!

What's unfair is that it (probably) gives a bad and unfair view of an entire country.

But back to the documentary, it's odd and long. The film clips are often the same.

If you need something to pass the time, or to iron to (Google it!), pay bills, do dishes, this is it.

This film is very good at dissecting the intricacies of the Indonesian legal system and add laying there its flaws. While the Indonesian legal system is certainly unique within the world, it seems that this case is problematic for the reason that many other cases in the world are problematic - media attention. Sometimes I wonder if it would be a better system when you were accused, charged, tried of a crime in secret. That way if you were innocent no one would ever know that you had been accused of a crime, and if you are guilty then your trial has more of a chance to be a fair one without the glare of the media. Of course that system also would probably lead to abuses of power as well. This is an interesting documentary that plays more like a sensationalistic film.

If you go by this, everyone in Indonesia is insanely vain and vapid. Their legal system is an absolute joke, with everyone involved believing and relying on science and arguments that would be laughed out of any other court in the world. The attention seeking father of the deceased woman was allowed to bring a gun into the court room, as well as place a doctored photo into evidence that was only at the last second discovered and removed. Every high school debate tournament I've seen has been head and shoulders above this country's highest court. Looks like there's a new entrant in the way too crowded race to see who can recreate the world from Idiocracy first.