Does the truth even exist if no one believes it?’
This line — loaded with, well, the truth of life in general and particularly with what transpires in this claustrophobic retelling of a horrific real-life story, sums up The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox.
Streaming on JioHotstar — the first two episodes of the eight-episode Hulu series are now available, with subsequent weekly drops — this is the dramatisation of what is undoubtedly one of the most keenly followed murder trials of the millennium. The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox, in its telling, feels sensationalist, and even stagey in parts, but the case itself is compelling enough to want you to stay with it.
The first two episodes jump between two timelines — 2007 and 2021. The former, focusing on a few days in the first week of November, is when Amanda Knox’s world comes crashing down as the American student studying in the quaint Italian town of Perugia finds herself accused of the gruesome murder of her British roommate Meredith Kercher. Taking place at a feverish pace — sometimes a little too frenzied, like in the overly aggressive Kafkaesque interrogation scene — The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox is not very sophisticated in its telling. But this is possibly a story — a stark instance of the miscarriage of justice brought on by prejudice, an unforgiving media trial and a gross violation of human rights — which warranted this kind of treatment.
The series opens with Knox, played effectively by Grace Van Patten, as a carefree young woman who returns to the home she shares with three other girls — including Kercher — after spending the night with Raffaele Sollecito (Giuseppe De Domenico), her boyfriend of a week. The front door left ajar, with their other two flat mates out of town, does ring some alarm bells, but Amanda doesn’t think much of it. Not even the sight of blood in the bathroom and the living area as well as Kercher’s absence raises too much of a doubt, though when she returns with Raffaele — and a couple of postal police — the brutal truth is revealed: Meredith has been raped and killed in her bedroom.
Filmed largely in Italian — which is a potent tool to illustrate Amanda’s helplessness in an investigation carried out in a language that she only has a less-than-working knowledge of — the series has a fast and furious treatment, with the Italian authorities already seeming to believe that Amanda, aided by Raffaele and another male accomplice, carried out the crime. This, despite the fact that the timelines didn’t add up, the accused had an alibi and their DNA couldn’t be linked to the murder. A mix of preconceived bias and discriminatory behaviour on the part of the investigating team — led by Francesco Acquaroli as Giuliano Mignini — is what contributes to Knox being held guilty, despite her sticking vehemently to her truth.
The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox is not an easy watch. It is not meant to be. But the series stands the chance of being seen as one-sided — several articles have already dismissed it as “misguided” and “unnecessary”. But Knox, who spent a considerable amount of time in prison and still faces judgment outside (she has lived with being called ‘Foxy Knoxy’ for years) — feels that it is time to tell her story.
What is equally, if not more intriguing than what plays out on screen, are the forces behind the series. Knox and her husband Christopher Robinson serve as executive producers, and joining them is Monica Lewinsky. The same White House intern whose torrid affair with US President Bill Clinton not only grabbed global headlines but also led to his impeachment in what is considered one of the biggest (sexual) scandals in world politics. In the run-up to the release of the series, Knox has described herself and Lewinsky as ‘members’ of the “The Sisterhood of Ill Repute”, with Lewinsky, now an activist, possibly using the medium of this series as a cathartic outlet for the ignominy she has been subjected to, even almost 30 years later.
Together, Knox and Lewinsky have ensured that The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox is not hagiographic in nature, but it is definitely skewed in its point of view, with the Kercher family vehemently refusing to participate in it. Even in the story, Meredith, the victim, is relegated to a footnote, with the focus remaining solely on Amanda. But for the ordeal she has gone through, Knox probably deserves this telling.
If waiting for the next six episodes to drop isn’t your scene, do catch the 2016 Netflix film Amanda Knox — a documentary and not a dramatisation — of the same case. In its story of an ordinary woman thrust overnight into extraordinary circumstances, it feels scarily relatable. Miscarriage of justice has no boundaries.