User reviews

Interesting but hard to watch crime documentary that starts out with the premise of Mason Jenkins's guilt. He's been convicted and is serving his time and whatever stories he's told over the years, the possibility of his innocence isn't really on the table here. Instead, the documentary is mostly focused on the aftermath of the crime and the relationship of this eviscerated family unit.

I felt somewhat uncomfortable watching this intimate footage of his families pain. From the police interview tapes from the time of the murder to the aunt who wants to support the parents but can't condone their frankly desperate support for their son. Its just hard to watch the two parents clinging to the idea of a family their son already effectively stole from them. The visits in the sad little prison house illustrate this perfectly; it's not a real home the relationships are a performance and murdered Jennifer is conspicuously absent. It's an interesting contrast that the prison guard who has no such emotional investment in Mason's innocence has no time for his lying.

As for the killer himself, I have to say he's frustratingly banal. Not very bright, not ready to take on the mantle of guilt but not able to lie convincingly either. He comes across as a big fat adult baby- childishly dependant on his parents yet frustrated by their enmeshment, narcissistically selfish like a toddler. I feel he can't admit to the murder because of the narcissistic blow that would be to his ego, he'd risk losing the support of his parents upon whose approval he seems dependant. They need him to be their child so they can cling to the family unit idea and he can't handle the withdrawal of their approval so they're all trapped and can only sneak up on the truth in tiny slow steps. The truth being that their son is a killer who feels no real love or respect for them. I can't help but wonder what signs might have been ignored during his upbringing that let him turn into such a monster.

I don't understand how these parents can stand by this idiot of a son... he's a horrible, pathetic, lying monster. So very sad..

My Uncle left for WWI thinking he was off to a great adventure. Like every other member of our family since the Revolution, he wanted to serve his country and his people. However, when he came home, he brought a chest full of the highest military medals and a bad case of PTSD. He was still repeating the aphorism that war was months of boredom interrupted by moments of terror decades later, and he said that, eventually, he only remembered the terror.

In this heart wrenching documentary, the parents of a teenaged boy and girl come home to find their daughter shot to death in their basement. They slowly piece together that their son is responsible, and the rest of the film is how they learn to deal with the new normal.

Never have I seen a documentary that focused on the tedium of despair, but anyone who has ever lost someone to a sudden death knows exactly what that means. The terror of loss is immediate and overwhelming, but then comes the numbing dullness of cleaning up the death site, arranging the funeral, etc. The trouble comes afterward, when there is nothing concrete to do but to mentally break down what happened again and again.

As in war, it can take months or years to break down and understand what happened. When the sudden death is caused by a family member, the denial is so much stronger than reality. It has its own kind of PTSD.

The film maker here spares nothing in showing the audience how a family problem ignored becomes a family tragedy. Parents love their kids, even when their kids are sociopaths. A family will seek some kind of normalcy, even in the agony of loss, and it will do so because the terror is just beneath the surface.

Also, Mason needs to stay in prison.

This was an excellent documentary about a twisted and horrific situation these poor parents found them selves in. You can see the devastation and toll it has taken on them. He seems like a sociopath, more or less. The way he reminisced about his sister on the anniversary to his Dad. You can understand their reasons for doing what they are doing. The Dad's sister says they are a mother and father, they are 'mothering and fathering'. But it also feels like a toxic situation, surely, especially given what was revealed throughout the documentary.

Well done. A whodunit knowing whodunit. Reminded me of Jon Bennet. I think there might have been some things going on that he doesn't want to talk about. Creepy.

There are telling moments in this documentary where you can see it is also the parents who are scared of the truth.

Denial comes in many forms and this film reveals the weakness and fragility that envelops this family.

3 people made a choice to continue living as if this tragedy never happened. If the mother and father can be so pragmatic then is this about their love for their son or their own selfish needs taking precedence. That is that they made a choice to keep their son in their life rather than face the reality of what he did and it's consequences.

Shamefully, the murdered sibling and how she died has almost become an irrelevance.

At the beginning I felt empathy for the parents and what they must have been going through. By the end that had long since disappeared.

Witnessing a family's pain as entertainment is a pretty ruthless appeal and possibly an insult to an audience, me included, that may have been just as riveted had the tv reporters invited some brilliant therapists, some mental health professionals to accompany and guide these sessions. Without that aspect of compassion that may have artfully demanded logic from the son instead of these ridiculous stories that ignore the room entirely, forget the elephant....where's the road through to healing? Where's the chance of resolution, solace or any comfort at all. Except that's none of our business except it's been made our business by airing and sharing lovely parents in an impossible situation doing the best they can. I just hope they're getting that support from those who might have advised them to skip the entertaining us but just as said near the end, how can we possibly judge what few could likely survive at all-the loss of both children under circumstances that are close to the worst. God bless them. Well done documentary for what it provokes ... a lot of questions.

The mother was janky. Even in the initial emergency call, she never mentioned her daughter. Simply referred to her as a body. The father knew the son was capable of violence, he just shut his mouth and went along with whatever his wife told him to say. She was bizarrely dispassionate about her daughter. The son was too stupid to keep his lies straight. This is one straight up dysfunctional family. Poorly educated, emotionally vacant. Absolutely no self awareness whatsoever. The mother discusses the sons criminal history like it is a cute little quirk. The father claims it was a terrible accident, well sure, people get terribly and accidentally shot in the head in the basement all of the time. Let's just forget Jennifer ever existed and play happy family prison bbq. With tax payer dollars. Seven stars because whilst being compelling, these moronic sociopaths should never have been given the airtime, had to turn it off.

It's obvious from the beginning that the son killed his sister and lied about the whole thing. He has a smirk on his fat face the entire time when he's talking about killing his sister. He shows no remorse whatsoever and never acts upset. It's also obvious the poor parents are in total denial and maybe that's how they cope. I wish he'd be honest and just say the whole truth, cause these parents would still go visit him and pretend everything is ok. The aunts are the only honest ones. Too bad the dad died in 2016 with this heartache. Glad his parole was denied in 2014 and hope he isn't out when 25 years is up!

This movie is not flashy or full of the beautiful people doing exciting things. It's 10 years after a family tragedy, a family ripped apart and not yet back together, afraid of asking questions when they might not want the answers. My heart was heavy every minute, always with the ultimate question, "What would I do?" I know the family is still suffering with pain and doubt, and my heart aches for them. I can't fault the parents for any of their choices. These people are such "normal folk" as they say. This movie makes me aware that even if you decide to be dull and normal, other people can rip that choice away from you, and then what do you do?

The Dad broke my heart he knew all along that his Son was a creep, He carried on the lie of Love and Support because that's what his wife wanted.

He Died of a broken Heart, as he started to get Sick soon after his precious daughter's death .

I think the Mason was a narcissistic jealous Boy because is Sister was loved by everyone kind, compassionate, with many friends , Mason was a Thug, from a Kid ,it starts at home.

Rip to the young beautiful girl who should never have been taken in such a horrific The Monster under her bed was her Brother .

Mother total Denial, Dad followed along until the end .

This was an interesting doc.

I gave it 8 stars for the parents and for the daughter they lost.

Nothing to say about Mason.

I googled the father and see he passed away in 2016.

Hope his wife is coping ok.

You don't have to be a psychologist to think that the son is a lying sociopath who only thinks about himself - even when speaking to his Dad on the phone he moans about how he laments that his sister won't be around to support him when they pass on. It's all me me me. And the parents decision to keep supporting him was probably their brain's way of protecting them from a reality that was far too painful to face into. It is one of the most traumatic and complex situations a parent could possibly ever face and how they managed to cope is beyond me. I truly hope that they were receiving counselling for this after the fact.

... mason spent 11 years lying about something that didn't need to be lied about. He killed his sister. He had planned to kill his parents. There was no accident. He can continue talking about this accident, but it's fruitless liberal parent that would believe that after all the evidence that is shown that this was a premeditated murder and probably would've been of his parents as well.. LIES in a case like this are very self-serving they serve only Mason they do not serve the family. They do not serve the siblings of Brian... I understand the parents love for their son. Years Ago when I was a career ricriminal. My parents loved me unconditionally, but everything I did when that happened was based on the fact that I accepted my fate and the consequences start to finish. I never blame the cops I never blamed an upbringing that didn't happen. .. bad.

That Jenkins shot his sister. And also no accident that the Jenkins family inadvertently raised a sociopath. Their inability to hold their son accountable for their daughter's senseless death was emblematic of their parenting style; they were both too busy working to provide for their family to pay attention to their children and their emotional development. Such a tragedy does not just happen overnight; it was the culmination of years of oversight and lack of responsibility. The family unit was dysfunctional and willfully in denial about the anti-social behaviour of the son, which only escalated the older he grew. It was complete disrespect to the memory of their late-daughter that neither parent could face the music.

If you have a child/children, this film makes you ask a fundamental question: whether you agree with what the father & mother did in forgiving their son for what he did - and tried to do - would you be that kind of parent?

This story that unfolds throughout this documentary is so unusual. Talk about layers of family love and making choices. Whew. The documentary is well done and all I can say without giving it away is that I was baffled by the calmness through such a shocking set of situations ---the trauma, grief, and horror of the realization of what was really going on. Oh, and that kid is still not being truthful --- keep your eyes on his eyes as you watch. I feel like I need to take a shower now to wash off the cringeworthy and disturbing film of WTF did he/she/he just say that I feel all over me right now.