"I Love You, Now Die - The Commonwealth vs. Michelle Carter" (2019 release; 135 min.) is a documentary about the suicide of an 18 yr. old boy who may or may not have been coached/encouraged/pressured by his 17 yr. old girlfriend to do so. As the documentary opens (with part 1 called "The Prosecution"), it is "July 12, 2014". Conrad and Michelle, who have met in person only 5 times over a 2 year span, are an "on-line couple", having sent thousands upon thousands of texts to each other. On that day, Conrad is contemplating suicide and Michelle is outright supportive, if not more so. Conrad dies from acute carbon monoxide poisoning. We then jump to today, as Conrad's dad, and them mom, reflect back to what happened in 2014... At that point we are 10 min. into the documentary.
Couple of comments: this is the latest documentary from writer-producer-director Erin Lee Carr, who just earlier this year gave us the outstanding documentary "At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal" and before than "Mommy Dead and Dearest". She is in my opinion one of today's leading documentarians. In "I Love You, Now Die", she examines the circumstances of what at first appears to be an "open and shut" case of a vulnerable and depressed young man being pressured and bullied by his equally vulnerable (and deranged?) young girlfriend into doing the unthinkable. The director uses the seemingly endless stream of texts between the two as the passport of this documentary. to chilling effect. To put it mildly, social anxiety among teenagers obsessed with their smart phone and other social media is a very serious problem. Equally striking is the unawareness of both of Conrad's parents (who are divorced at that time) that Conrad is in deep, deep (emotional) trouble. "He looked to be doing okay", comments his mom. But part 2 ("The Defense") is where things really get interesting, as we take a deeper dive into both Michelle's and Conrad's backgrounds and use of prescription psychiatric drugs (Prozac, Celexa, and more). All that said, there is of course also the legal side of things: do the actions and behavior of Michelle constitute a crime under Massachusetts law? The documentary does an excellent job looking at these complicated issues, and as someone comments, "there are no winners here". Indeed, the overall feeling is one of immense sadness for both individuals and their respective families...
"I Love You, Now Die" premiered earlier this year at SXSW to immediate critical acclaim, and is now airing in HBO in two parts. The documentary is currently rated 100% certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, and there is a reason for that. It is easy to make out Michelle as the 'bad' person, and certainly there is some of that, but as this documentary amply demonstrates, there is a whole lot more to it than at first sight appears to be the case. If you love investigative documentaries, I would readily suggest you check this out, be it on VOD or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.
