TW: domestic violence
American Murder: The Family Next Door is a Netflix Original that documents the Colorado murders of pregnant Shanann Watts and her two young daughters, committed by husband Chris Watts in 2018. The documentary follows the trajectory of the murders, beginning at the disappearance of Shanann and the children and ending at the sentencing of Chris for life imprisonment.
American Murder has been amongst the UK and the US’s Top 10 list on Netflix in the weeks following its release onto the streaming platform on 30 September. The film spotlights shocking domestic violence rates towards women in America, as well as exposing the performative nature of social media. However, as undeniably gripping and thought-provoking as this particular true crime documentary is, the film’s representation of domestic violence towards women remains problematic in many ways.
As the story unfolds, the film presents us with a voyeuristic bombardment of private text conversations between Shanann and her friends and intimate text messages sent from Shanann to her husband. Through relying on Shanann’s text conversations to propel much of the story, director Jenny Popplewell implores us to recognise that the film is an unmediated portrayal of the disturbing events. However, the film’s apparent commitment to realism may be somewhat part of the issue. These unedited, yet carefully selected, text conversations, along with footage taken from Shanann’s social media and anecdotal evidence provided by friends of Shanann and Chris, form the basis from which the viewer can form any strong opinion of Shanann.
Maintaining suspense in true crime
“Since much of the documentary evokes implicit conjecture as to victim Shanann’s culpability, the film de-emphasises Chris’ sole responsibility for the disturbing crimes.”
As any true crime buff will know, films of this genre will often go to great lengths to frame the innocent as guilty and vice versa – all in the name of suspense. This documentary is no different: many scenes and conversations leading up to Chris’ confession lead the viewer into believing that Shanann may have been involved in her and her daughters’ sudden disappearance – mirroring the narrative put forward by Chris himself. Since much of the documentary evokes implicit conjecture as to victim Shanann’s culpability, the film de-emphasises Chris’ sole responsibility for the disturbing crimes.
First, the documentary explores Shanann’s fractious relationship with her mother-in-law. Irate text messages sent from Shanann to Chris intensify this narrative, while Chris’ friend explains that Shanann was “kick[ed] out of the house” due to “yelling” at Chris’ mother. Shanann’s close friend Nickole later confirms the animosity, stating that Chris’ parents “did not like” Shanann because “she can be bossy”. The statements seem unwarranted, forging an image of Shanann as an irrational and domineering woman.
The incident ultimately heightens the melodrama and entertainment value of the story, as the unknowing viewer (at this point in the documentary) attempts to figure out whether Chris or Shanann were responsible for the impending crimes. Frustratingly, we later learn that the family conflict was unconnected to the murders, so the film’s inclusion of the argument seems gratuitous.
“Irrelevant factors such as the victim having a “bossy” persona should never negate the actions of domestic abusers.”
Victim blaming
Although these events do represent underlying tensions beginning to surface in Shanann and Chris’ relationship, which contrasts starkly with Shanann’s presentation of her perfect marriage across social media, the filmmakers may have plausibly included this scene as a critique of the façade that social media stereotypically displays. This initial framing of Shanann as an unhinged woman may provide certain viewers with the ammunition needed to victim-blame Shanann for her and her family’s deaths – echoing the vitriolic public debate which formed on social media at the time, and alarmingly since, the murders. Irrelevant factors such as the victim having a “bossy” persona should never negate the actions of domestic abusers. The film dangerously verges on this territory – though, perhaps, unintentionally.
“in America “three women are killed by their current or ex partner every day”, and these “virtually always premeditated” crimes are most often committed by men.”
Next, American Murder incites doubts as to Shanann’s innocence through presenting Shanann as insecure and jealous. This portrayal reinforces the overplayed narrative of the ‘psycho girlfriend/wife’ often used to shift blame onto the female victim. Throughout the film, a series of invasive messages between Shanann and her husband detail Shanann’s anxieties as Chris continually rejects her sexual advances.
During one incident, Shanann texts her friend: “Just went and woke his sorry ass up and asked him who he’s sleeping with”. The scenes increase suspicions, as the film confronts us with a seemingly passive husband who believes his wife is over-thinking things. The film even includes a video of Shanann telling her social media followers that she is “high-strung” and “dominant”, while Chris is “sweet” and “calm”. Later on, however, we learn that Chris was having an extramarital affair which the film suggests to be the potential motivation behind his crimes. So rather than being a ‘psycho’ wife, as the documentary attempts to portray as a mechanism to generate suspense, Shanann was entirely rational in her estimation of the situation.
Domestic violence statistics
Gesturing to possible reasons as to why Chris murdered his entire family could rationalise his heinous crimes.
The film ultimately culminates in clearing Shanann’s name of any blame, however, after witnessing a documentary which dedicates too much time to reflect on how Shanann may have proved a difficult partner, this final effort seems too little too late. The portrayal of Shanann is incongruent with the critical message at the end: in America “three women are killed by their current or ex-partner every day” and these “virtually always premeditated” crimes are most often committed by men. If the driving force behind the documentary was to showcase how often these crimes occur by deceptive men, then gesturing to possible reasons as to why Chris murdered his entire family could rationalise his heinous crimes.
The filmmakers’ strive to create a film that is both suspenseful and stimulating comes at a damaging cost for the murder victim, which begs the question as to how much should the entertainment value of true crime documentaries vitiate the ethical treatment of grave and sensitive subjects such as domestic violence?
For a list of domestic abuse helplines and government guidance, please follow this link.
Written by Shannon Cook
Featured image courtesy of Tumisu on Pixabay. Image licence can be found here. No changes were made to this image.