Moreover, it has to do with representation. “Sophie” approaches the perspective of Toscan du Plantier’s parents, sons and other relatives, interviewing them extensively and closely following their crusade. The main characters in “Murder at the Cottage” are Bailey and, for the most part, his staunch romantic partner, Jules Thomas. (The victim’s family was interviewed for “Murder at the Cottage,” but asked for the footage to be removed after previewing the series. They appear in archived interviews with him.)
But perhaps the most important factor is provenance. Director John Dower’s “Sophie” (“Manila Thriller”) is a solid example of the Netflix style of true crime. Rather than being overtly sensational, it is cast towards drama and surprise. It’s polished and crisp, but not remarkably original or curious, and focuses heavily on packaging story elements into a familiar and digestible form.
And its focus is on guilt—identifying and claiming suspects. Taking on the role of the prosecutor, heightening the emotions of those of us who are jurors and leading them in certain directions is the MO of most true crimes. For “Sophie,” the easiest direction (perhaps the right direction) is to go to Bailey’s guilt.
Guilt, however, is not the central issue of Murder in the Cottage, which fulfills the requirements of a true crime documentary without being bound by format. In a descriptive sense, it is a work of art, written and directed by the talented Irish filmmaker Jim Sheridan, who appears on screen as narrator, interviewer and spirit guide. A project that Sheridan has been working on since at least 2015, “My Left Foot,” “In the Name of the Dad,” and “In America” — but has faded over the past decade.
In the Netflix series, information is artfully arranged to embody existing stories that have already been told through the media over the years, and to agree with existing moral calculations. Go find a story that can understand the events of His approach is actually simpler than “Sophie”‘s, which jumps around time to heighten the surprise. He moves chronologically from station to station, sacrificing some drama for clarity.
