The Jinx

The Jinx is in many ways a rather weird result of the rather underwhelming fictionalized depiction of the story of Robert Durst All Good Things. A film that found no real insight into the story, and offered a seemingly pointless summation of essentially his Wikipedia page. That film though, which Durst himself apparently enjoyed which says a whole lot, prompted Durst to contact that film's director Andrew Jarecki to offer himself up for the very rare interview. This in turn created a documentary and essentially the second chance for the same director to tell the same story, but now with the words of the subject himself at the forefront. Well what's the difference? Everything. Where the fictional film seemingly had nothing to say The Jinx is an endlessly fascinating examination of a man, and deconstruction of the crimes scenes that followed wherever he went. The series has become known for its unbelievable capture of seeming accidental confession, which is undoubtedly an unforgettable conclusion, however the entire series is the compelling and chilling exploration of it central figure. The idea though is less to show the man's guilt as a possibility, but rather explore that he clearly is guilty, since he clearly is guilty. It never explicitly states this, except the man himself stating the fact, and examines the torrid web of insanity the man's life touches. That includes the missing women, the bizarre and painful childhood of the man, his detachment yet connect to the affluent society of New York, the trial where jurors can accept him as someone who dismembers but somehow is not a murderer, the strange clue of a miss spelling, every facet is indeed worthy of the old stranger than fiction description. What is so remarkable of it all is the detail found through each episode as it unravels this mystery that only becomes all the more of oddity the more you learn from it, with the greatest oddity being at the center as essentially this serial killer who regales you his story in such affable yet unnerving way.
5/5