I Am Vanessa Guillen

STAR RATING: ***** Brilliant **** Very Good *** Okay ** Poor * Awful

Vanessa Guillen was a young Latin American woman, whose dreams did not conform with traditional gender norms. She wanted to make her name either as a boxer, or in the military, and went with the latter. Making her family extremely proud, Vanessa settled in well at the Fort Hood military compound for a while, but quickly grew disillusioned, and complained of sexual harassment and abuse by her fellow cadets. She was later found murdered in a shallow ditch, spurring her mother Gloria, and sisters Mayra and Lupe into a ferocious battle for justice, and exposing a top down culture of corruption at FH, whilst effecting a change in the law.

If their general original content is somewhat hit and miss, Netflix can generally be relied on to produce a solid, insightful documentary, and this, the feature length directorial debut of director Christy Wegener, would be one such example. A shocking, unbelievable true life tale of institutional corruption and evil, it shines a light on a marginalised voice, in the shape of a young woman from a minority background, and the failings and betrayal of an organisation meant to protect her. Of shattered dreams and shattered hearts, finding the strength to rise up to demand justice and change.

No longer able to fight her own corner, Vanessa's legacy rests in the hands of her mother and two sisters, who are (without generalising) a typically impassioned Latin American family, dealt the most shattering of blows. You can feel the fire raging within them, as they chase their campaign around the company, rallying legal experts, lawmakers and even (then) President Trump in to making Vanessa's life matter. This was a young woman whose only crime was to pursue a dream and make her loved ones proud, and it's truly shocking how the apparently most honourable, and most deserving of respect, people actually behave when forced in to a corner and told to justify their actions, as we've seen in other recent documentaries such as Athlete A. It really makes you feel uncomfortable.

There are some people who sadly end up having more of an impact in death than they do in life, which things like the death of George Floyd (whatever you thought of him) proven, and someone like Vanessa Guillen has the power to do just the same thing, and maybe even better. ****

What's particularly remarkable about this true-crime documentary is how it focuses more on the judicial aftermath of Vanessa's killing than the details of the crime itself. Here's a story where even the family of the deceased victim know very little about the whys, primarily due to its occurrence at Fort Hood, a US Army post, and the fact that military law is vastly different from civilian law. It is pretty easy to connect with the Guillens and the people who support them, and that isn't just because they're immigrants. It could be one of the reasons for sure, but there's still a lot to appreciate here - be it the plight of the younger sisters (especially Lupe, who's like a shining beacon of hope) or the mother who lost her daughter at such a young age, the lawyer Natalie Khawam who joins them in their fight for justice, and the folks who came out to support them in passing the bill for independent prosection of sexual assault cases in the military.

While the family's effort pays off to some extent (and it's depicted as a victory moment), the concerned folks remark that it is just a first step in many. Credit should go to the makers for not sensationalizing the details of the crime, and instead, pulling us into this emotional journey of a family that's fighting a relatively big fight. So, if you're looking for an investigative, details-driven true-crime piece, this might not entirely hold your interest. It definitely did hold mine (with slight pacing issues), as the story progressively moved into a more insightful, affecting space.

This is an emotional and powerful film that covers a lot of ground. The story is well structured, fast paced and really dives into some complicated subject matter about the military chain of command, military legal system and getting legislation passed.

The film gives you just the right amount of information about the legal framing to follow the story, but leads with the personal stories of the subjects of the film, which are the heroes.

The focus is on a family that makes a really incredible choice - they take on the US military in order to get justice for their sister.

One of the most important films. Really worth the watch.

This doc shook me to the core. It was emotional and offers quite a refreshing point of view.

If you're expecting a traditional crime doc, then maybe not your cup of tea. If you are open to watching something more interesting then the same old formula of gore and exploitation, this breaks the mold.

This film gave me some hope, not only about democracy but humankind as well. A beautiful testament to a young woman, the legacy her family has built in her honor.

This felt intimate, thoughtfully crafted, sensitive and fair. The filmmakers handled this delicate story with gentle care and as a viewer, appreciated that. Imagine this was gut-wrenching to make.

I simply can't get this film out of my mind.

I would of rated this a 10 but because the producers and writers decided this would be good media blaming Trump for not passing the original bill was bogus. At the time the House and Senate was Democrat majority. At least Trump saw the sisters, Biden did not when the sisters came out to DC the 2nd time.

I give Mayra much praise for giving life to this bill and I'm sure now 2022 she truly understands what involves with political science. I was happy to hear the mother and Mayra give their true thoughts on the superiors of Fort Hood and place them on alert because they need to resign. I hope in the years coming that Mayra will be a future congresswoman, she has that fight and gumption instilled in her heart and soul.