Aileen: La reina de las asesinas en serie

Concerning the sad story of Aileen, what perplexes me the most is how people can just jump past the horrific and violent upbringing she had... As if it had nothing to do with who she became.

These people, who can't see the cause and effect of abuse to Aileen(from her parents...to actually everyone in her youth)...these are the people who confound me.

One of America's most unique serial killers, Aileen Wuornos, has been the subject of several documentaries, but this one's a little bit different.

I've seen a few documentaries made about Aileen, and this one tells her story from an entirely different point of view. I enjoyed it; it's very interesting, and you'll hear some fascinating input, particularly the judge's story, which was shocking.

Aileen clearly had an incredibly tough early life; it's apparent that she had mental health issues, very likely as a result of years of abuse. One thing I have to highlight is that we're given an almost sympathetic viewpoint of Aileen.

For most of this documentary, we're led to believe that Aileen was justified in killing those seven men; it's only in the latter stages that she admits what had actually happened.

I'm not quite sure the loved ones of the murder victims would look upon her with such a sympathetic eye; she murdered seven people, and there's no justification for that.

Just remember, a filmmaker is giving you their take on Aileen's story.

7/10.

The film opens with the Australian pen pal, Jasmine Hirst, saying that Aileen was only brought to justice because she killed 'white men'. It ends with her justifying the murders because most of victims resembled people who had sexually assaulted Aileen in the past.

This is the focus of much of the film - and it doesn't make for a compelling crime documentary.

I do feel sorry for Aileen on a personal level, given her traumatic upbringing and sexual assaults. But that doesn't mean she shouldn't be held accountable for her crimes (something this film actively tries to avoid).

It focuses heavily on the first murder and Aileen's claims of self-defence - which given the evidence, is plausible. But the film then tries to skip over the other 6 murders to paint Aileen as some sort of hero - despite her own admissions later on that she committed some of the murders due to financial problems, relationship problems and notoriety.

There was only one 10 second clip from a victim's relative. The filmmakers didn't want you to hear the other side of the story or the impact it had on the victim's families.

This would have been a much better film had it been more balanced and less apologetic. At least explain the 6 other murders.

As far as I'm aware, there's no other documentaries trying to justify serial killings due to the perpetrator's trauma. And nor should there be.

So why try to justify all of Aileen's killings?

I dislike docs that have zero creative input. No current interviews from detectives, attorneys, family members, or whoever was involved with the murder cases. No crime scene analysis. No reenactments. Not even adding a timeline of events!? It's literally just old footage mashed together into a film. That's it. So lazy. I kept thinking when is it going to get good, it doesn't. I wanted to know more about the details of crimes she committed and opinions from experts.

To be sure, this isn't the most Earth-shatrering documentary. Much of the footage is derived from previously-aired interviews and news specials on the eponymous convicted killer created several years ago (think 90's and early 2000's). Moreover, much of the "home movie" footage contained therein is similarly lackluster in that very little of it seems to be of Aileen and/or her family, (but of unrelated people and places splashed across the screen during voice-over sequences instead).

No, there's not much new here for the eyes. The film's novelty pertains more to its themes surrounding the additive, compounding effects of trauma and abuse, as well as the narratives and injustices only visible after 3+ decades of retrospective analysis. Such important, highly relevant themes may be hard for victims of crime to stomach. Still, their lessons must be shared. Until we create more inclusive, compassionate, and egalitarian social conditions, such gut-churning, difficult-to-understand personalities will surely be created again, and we'll be forced to ask ourselves once more: Does capital punishment really help anyone?