Carlie Pracht
Lantern Staff
Netflix recently released an eight- episode limited series called Unbelievable, which tells the story of a teen who reported being raped and the journey she went on to tell her story.
Unbelievable, created by Susannah Grant and based on a true story, which was reported in a Pulitzer Prize winning article, is a roller coaster of emotions with scenes ranging from deeply troubling to deeply moving, as the story of Marie Adler, played by 22-year-old actress Kaitlyn Dever, is told.
The first episode, which is 58 minutes long, tells the unfortunately common story of victims of sexual assault, skepticism and disbelief. Marie is questioned by the police when she reports what has happened to her, and the police, two male detectives, refuse to believe that she is telling the truth and even charge her with filing a false report. This is often the problem with sexual assault cases, as well as victim blaming, and is a reason that many victims choose to not come forward.
The following episodes feature two female detectives from different districts that discover similarities between separate cases and come together to find that Marie’s story has these similarities as well.
The two female detectives, Karen Duvall and Grace Rasmussen, played by Merritt Wever and Toni Collette respectively, continue to work together throughout the series as well as the victims, giving them a voice they didn’t have before.
The series follows two different story-lines, which allows the viewer various points of view into what is going on and makes the characters further relatable.
The other character that the story follows is that of Amber Stevenson, played by Australian actress Danielle Macdonald, who is also a victim of sexual assault and whose case is being followed by the same female detectives.
The series touches on various sensitive and triggering topics such as sexism, victim blaming, suicide and the PTSD that many victims face after their horrific assaults.
Dever does an excellent job of portraying the character of Marie Adler and telling the story that many victims of sexual assault are too afraid to speak up about. These topics are very important to discuss and should not be overshadowed or surrounded with shame and judgement. This show is important because it starts a discussion about the unfair problems that victims face when telling their story, especially when they are already living with a detrimental and traumatic experience that will haunt them for the rest of their lives.
Wever and Collete also do an impeccable job in their roles in this series. It is not unheard of for women to be scrutinized and face judgment in the workplace, especially when investigating a topic that a lot of people don’t understand how detrimental it is.
These actors do a phenomenal job representing the tough, hardworking women that face this scrutinization and judgment in their careers everyday
I would rate this show a 10/10 because the acting is phenomenal and compelling and allows for an immersive and enriching experience while watching the show. Series that are able to connect the viewer to the characters and allow for a truly cathartic experience are rare. I also give this such a high rating because I feel it is extremely important to have a show that discusses this topic. Seeing these tragedies in the news, hearing the gossip on the street and sometimes even knowing a victim personally is not always enough to move someone to take a stand against these crimes or to support the victims, but having a show that completely moves the viewer and shows them exactly what this traumatic experience and entire situation is can do a lot of good.
The only thing I would critique is how short the series is. Since the series covers such an important topic that is actually very common, I think there could’ve been plenty of content to make more episodes in this series, but other than that I loved it.
