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This is one of the best documentaries we have ever watched. The director did an excellent job of making you feel a certain way in the first half of the series and then completely flip the switch in the second half. You cannot make up the crazy crap that happened in this case! The only part of this documentary I was not a fan of was the parts showing the town play being discussed with the actors and the play itself. I get why the director put it in there because by the end of the play, one of the family members finally got to see/hear all of the facts of the case. So I get it, but found that aspect of it quite boring and almost unnecessary. Whatever you do, do NOT start googling the case, I know it gets slow sometimes, but hang in there because it's so worth it! This case will sit with me for a bit. It's insane!

For the people that didn't understand why it was included then gave up before the final episode: you missed something that the rest of us would say was amazing.

Not the quality of the production itself, which seemed well done, but for the impact it had on the locals and particularly on the families involved, some of whom were in the audience.

I'll admit that I did wonder why they were spending any time on it, but it paid off spectacularly.

Most people would have realised that Burt had employed some fairly dodgy interviewing techniques by about episode 4, but seeing his reaction to both the documentary and what he had been told about the play was illuminating.

As Episode 1 of "Mind Over Murder" (2022 release; 6 episodes of about 55 min each) opens, we find ourselves in a remote small Nebraska town called Beatrice, population 12,669. Various Beatrice residents introduce themselves and speak directly into the camera. Then we learn that in February, 1985, a 68 yr old grandma called Helen Wilson was brutally raped and murdered, causing a seismic shock in the small community. Who could've done such a horrible and heinous crime? At this point we are 10 min into Episode 1.

Couple of comments: this is the latest documentary of Nanfy Wang ("One Child Nation"). Here she reassesses the events of February, 1985 and how it all plays out afterwards. I don't want to go into more specifics in case you are not fully aware of this case. Let's just say that there are quite a number of "twists" along the way, I mean you can't make this stuff up because it wouldn't be believable. Indeed once again these facts are stranger than fiction. The film makers do a good job of covering all the different possibilities. It's truly like making a 1,500 pieces puzzle, one piece at the time.

"Mind Over Murder" premiered a couple of weeks ago on HBO and a new episode comes out every Monday (and then stream on HBO Max). We are now 3 episodes into it, and I can't wait to see the remaining 3 episodes. If you love true crime and a good documentary, I'd readily suggest you check this out and draw your own conclusion.

There are a few things I don't like about it, but many that I do. It's artfully produced and certainly not a waste of time. At some point I think the town folk even mention that the series is bringing a lot of money to Beatrice, and are urged to cooperate as much as possible with the crew. In the end you get a story full of candor, contradiction and absurdity in equal parts.

Above all, it manages to humanize all the characters despite the extraordinary tale, which itself is quite a feat. Even when they disagree you find a way to relate to each of them. Seeing the same picture from different perspectives is important as you look to explore the key question posed throughout the series: What do you do when the truth you've believed for 35 years may actually be false? There are no easy answers for the individuals, much less for the community.

A mark of intelligence is the willingness and ability to change one's perception as new information becomes available. It's rarely seen among group thinkers, be it a tight knit neighborhood or a virtual community with an opinion. The movie Mind over Murder is remarkable when we see people literally putting themselves in others' situations, changing their minds and imparting their collective gained wisdom on others.

As I suspected those slamming the series did not watch through to the end. At first I too was put off a bit by the pacing and the play aspect, but then I began to understand the reason for it. By the last episode I knew I was seeing something truly unique and a project that tangibly led to healing in this small town.

The true crime murder component of the movie is a vehicle for what I saw as something far more meaningful which is humans softening and beginning to understand one another in the face of heightened emotion and years of pain and solidifying opinions. It is something the residents of our world need so much. This docuseries was life changing for so many people who were in pain. I felt that while watching the last episode. Are there moments of cringe? Yes. But they serve a purpose. Give it a chance. We learn in the movie that some people simply don't want to hear the truth after investing so many years in a certain way of thought. I recommend softening, opening your mind and then diving in to this.

Can't stand how ignorant that Burdette guy is. He should spend as much time in jail as these people had to. This guys clearly has no empathy whatsoever. Just protecting his image and lying to himself and the people around him. Should be ashamed.

Other than that pretty interesting documentary. It took some time to really take me in. But after two episodes it started to get twisted. Before that I didn't really care a lot.

Sad that this was possible. To just put people in that position by pressure.

It's annoying that the review needs a certain amount of words. I don't know what to say more. I recommend it if you don't know what to watch else and you're into true crime.

This is one of the few series that I feel really used the length to build an emotional story for the audience too. The ending episode had a feeling a catharsis for me as well. You'll see some complaints about the length, but it's necessary to look at this from all angles. The individuals testimony were heartfelt.

Burt Searcy is an asshole though, and the guy in the play did him perfect. Looking at his phone because that's easier than facing the pain he caused these people just because they were "undesirables." He wants to talk about how this is hurtful to Helen's family, this is just capitalizing on their pain, but who's the one who inserted himself into this and whined about his legacy to the cameras? He didn't "solve" this case because he's a kind person, he did it because he wanted to live forever through it and erase his cloud that came with leaving the Beatrice PD. A very repulsive man.

Would have benefited greatly from cutting all the local theatre stuff. It doesn't add anything to the story and appears to be there purely for stylistic flourish. Check out the documentary Procession to see a similar artistic approach that actually enhanced the subject matter.

Beyond that, it's hard to follow along with a true crime doc when only one episode is released per week, especially one in which the filmmaker isn't content with telling the details of the story succinctly. There's a lot of obfuscation at work here, likely in an attempt to create suspense, but things just become muddled.

Very surprised with the glowing critical response.

There are some reviews on here complaining about the length of this series, and that it could have been shorter. Stick with it until the end, because it all comes together in an explosive and emotional finale. Watching the family of Helen Wilson finally realize that the story they have been told was in fact wrong was just heart wrenching. The families of the victim and the families of the people falsely incarcerated for the crime come together by the end, and you can finally see generations of affected family members reach some sort of peace and closure. As a huge true crime fan, this one really hit the mark.

I have never reviewed before and am writing this positive review to counteract the effects of the premature negative reviews. This documentary was fascinating and horrifying. I really recommend giving it a chance. Most of the negative reviews I read, whatever their complaint, were written after only two or three episodes. Stick with it! This doc was thoughtfully constructed to reveal all the various elements of the story at the exact right time. Above all, I am thoroughly impressed with the director's success at getting so many meaningful interviews from all points of view at various stages of the project. What fabulous work!

This is a good documentary due to the subject matter, however it definitely drags on too long. The focus on the theater players is frustrating because it takes you out of the main story, it was unnecessary. Also, the conspiracies brought forth by Searcy, some of the police and the victims family are absolutely ludicrous. It's absolutely astonishing how incompetency and ignorance can ruin so many lives. Humans need to be better and do better!

This could've been a really good documentary. They ruined it by bouncing between a documentary and a play and the overall runtime is overkill. This needed a better director and editor.

Okay. Midway through episode 3 I wanted to turn it off, but it reeled me back in. When I first started watching this I was highly convinced of one outcome and then my mind was completely opened to a totally different outcome. It definitely takes a sharp turn. So because of that, I liked it. But there were major things I strongly disliked and I thought ultimately impacted the docuseries.

Firstly, it is WAY too long. I would've accepted 2-4 episodes. That's al we needed. Secondly, the play they continued to focus on. I hated the theater part of it. I after a few episodes I ended up fast forwarding through al of the play/theater parts. Thats not really what I signed on to watch. While I understand why the play was important in the end, I don't think we needed to hear about it so much. They should've just mentioned there was a play and what the play was about and then highlighted why the play was important to some of these people's lives.

But all in all, I liked it. I didn't love it, but it was worth watching. The story is a heartbreaking insight to what happens when the system fails and reminds you that a few bad apples really can ruin many peoples' lives. It reminds us we're not safe from injustice due to greed and pride. None of us are safe.

Brilliant unfolding and story telling for such a horrific tale. With a strangely almost loving under current for all the principals. An adept fairness. Can't wait for the next episode. Kudos to the filmmakers for their portrait of Helen Wilson. Carefully setting in our minds the love of for family and her poetic nature with the use of old footage and tapes. Even the town of Beatrice is fixed in my memory now. All done with such light strokes, never devices or manipulation.

Like others who read reviews on IMDB before investing 6 hours into a docu-series, I was skeptical based on the 7.0 overall rating at the time of this writing.

But what led me to invest in watching it was that the reviews were polarized between 7 and 10. I wanted to understand why and hoped that I'd come out in the 10 camp.

IMO, those who rated it a 6, 7 or 8 wanted a "Making a Murderer" or "Serial" type of open-ended mystery and were disappointed the weird side story about a small-town play getting in the way of the cold hard facts. As far as true crime, it's interesting but just OK and certainly took too long to tell that story. If I had stopped watching after 5.5 episodes, I would have been in that camp.

But the final half episode changed everything and moved me into the 10 camp. Hell, I would rate it an 11 and say it was one of the most profound explorations of humanity in the context of tragedy I've ever watched.

It moved me to absolute tears as the story the series creators were actually telling all along suddenly came to light and we watched the individuals of the previous 5 episodes begin to heal from an absolutely tragic situation and we watched others double down in their ego and pride. The "twist" caught me by complete surprise as I finally understood that this docu-series was using the True Crime genre to tell human story about healing. It hit me like a ton of bricks and was relatable at personal level, even tho I've never experienced loss even close to that experienced by the people in this series.

My personal take away: At different times I play both the Victim and Villain in tragedies of my own life. Time and self-compassion for both sides of myself are the pathway to healing.

This story could have been told in a much more efficient fashion, but it certainly exposes how a corrupt and egomaniacal cop can destroy lives. The series also, inadvertently, explains how the criminal Donald J Trump was ever supported or elected. The abject stupidity and willful ignorance of the citizens of Beatrice, Nebraska is a perfect microcosm of how stupid people operate on "beliefs" rather than any semblance of facts or reality. It also demonstrates how vindictive such small-minded people can be. Frankly, it is utterly shocking and truly disconcerting to know this is the state of mind in small town, conservative America.

This story unfolds too slowly. They're trying to create a drama with twists and turns that are just not there. The story of the Beatrice Six is best told under 3 hours.

I live in Nebraska, not very far from Beatrice. I have never liked Beatrice, something about the place always seemed kind of creepy to me. I remember when this murder happened and when the six suspects were put on trials. I also remember when they were exonerated and the controversy over how the county was going to repay them. Beyond that I never followed the case that closely. This documentary does a terrific job of showing all sides, a lot of facts, and letting the people involved speak for themselves. A lot of people have complained about the play involved. However, I think it gave a nice touch.

Stick to the documentary format. 86 the hactors (yes I meant hactors) reading dialogue and you have a great series. It also diminishes the severity of this hideous crime against an older woman. Have a "Snyder Cut" style redo and you're in business.

This is a really sad but interesting case in a town full of characters. I like how the victim is not lost. We get to meet her through old movies, tape recordings, and family members.

The only draw back to this documentary is the intermingling of the actual case and the side project play and it's actors. While watching it feels as if it/they are completely unnecessary and only serve to drag this doc out, but stick it out because it all collides in ep 6.

It is mind blowing how badly this case was handled. So many people drug through the mud and a family left with wrong answers and so much grief all for one guys ego.

I, like other viewers, would virtually roll my eyes the first 5.5 episodes when they would show the community play group. Like, ok, a bunch of hipsters making a local play about a tragedy. But when they showed the parts of the actual production, it was amazing. They seemed to have truly taken the relevant parts of what happened and managed to put it together in a compassionate and accurate way. So in a sense it was a production within a production, and both were very well told. I even got the lesson which I think the whole documentary was trying to impart about the dangers of prejudging. This was just an amazing, eye opening real life story of humans and how imperfect we are in so many ways. So tragic, so important and thank you to those who made this.