I Love You, Now Die: The Commonwealth v. Michelle Carter

"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.

This case has always fascinated me. This documentary goes into a lot of depth about things that weren't initially touched upon in the news. It really made me think and I'm still conflicted about this case. A great documentary nonetheless showing both sides of the story and letting the audience decide their own opinions.

This is a documentary that shows the divide before and after the introduction of cell phones and social media, and the lack of laws that are in place. Throughout the documentary one is left with the question - is it a crime? Is it a crime in the eyes of the law?

We are led through one side, then the other, and I feel as uncertain as I did at the beginning about what really happened. Because things that I interpret to be jokes, or how young people speak, are taken 100% literally by the lawyers and judge. It's a very interesting case to study more if you are interested in law or true crime.

A good documentary is hard to pull off, especially one focused on a case like this that is both recent and still very contentious. How do you remain neutral in a case like this? How do you avoid either sliding to one side, where you depict Michelle Carter as a monster in a woman's form, a manipulator who wanted nothing more than fame, or the other, where she remains purely innocent of her own actions behind a wall of mental instability and undiagnosed issues? How do you avoid dramatizing it? (like the absolutely terrible Hulu show they just made?)

I Love You, Now Die, I feel, splits that line perfectly. Part 1 goes over the Prosecutions main arguments. Michelle Carter did encourage him constantly in Conrad's last few days and hours to do the task. She was aware of his mental instabilities and desperate for attention. She was someone who wanted people to talk to her and find her interesting. She wanted the attention of her sympathy, and her lies to her friends about him being missing is genuinely chilling. She knew he was dead by that point.

Where it gets interesting is with Part 2, focusing on the defense. Conrad Roy III was not someone with a pristine record. He had his own battles with mental problems, depression and anxiety, attempts at suicide, and he often piled all of his biggest concerns onto her, since he didn't trust his own very abusive family. Michelle Carter had genuine mental disorders, wanting to paint their romance as something out of a play, out of a movie, and in her deluded state she might have genuinely believed she was helping him get rid of the pain. I don't doubt that she did care for him, but that she was incapable of healthily showcasing that love.

I only knock a star because it feels like they kinda scramble at the end to touch on other things, and the good pace of the rest of the documentary kinda slips up, but overall (and no matter how you feel on the verdict), I think this is a great documentary, especially balanced and very informative.

This documentary is in two parts. After watching the first part I was convinced that this young girl was desperately trying to get attention from her peers and going about it through the death of her boyfriend. After watching the second part I am in tears and all I want to do is make sure that my children know that they are not alone and that they are loved. Things are not black and white. There are many nuances to every situation and this documentary did an incredible job in dissecting what is a very complex situation. This was a very unfortunate event, and my heart goes out to both sides. We, as parents, need to take a more active role in our children's lives. It is very difficult to be a teenager in the world today. Thank you for this documentary, you did an excellent job.