An enthralling yet disturbing true-crime story, Gosnell: The Trial of America’s Biggest Serial Killer overcomes its budget restrictions to create a timely and sure to be controversial delve into a criminal case that a nation tried to ignore.
A line repeated throughout Gosnell… is that “this is not about abortion”. Let’s shoot straight here: this is very much about abortion. It is the reason why a criminal case involving an abortionist was largely ignored by the media, why the book that told the story of this case was refused listing on the New York Times best-seller list, and why the film adaptation was shunned by every movie studio in town.
Yet prosper did producer/writer tandem Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney (Frack Nation), who along with screenwriter Andrew Klavan (True Crime) and director Nick Searcy (Carolina Low), brought the story of Kermit Gosnell to the screen with hopes of exposing this case to a wider audience. Although riddled with budget restrictions that lends itself more as a TV production as opposed to a cinematic experience, Gosnell: The Trial of America’s Biggest Serial Killer triumphs as a rather good melding of true-crime story and courtroom drama, with a chilling and direct message sure to trigger many and shock many more.
Gosnell… stars Dean Cain as Philadelphia Police Detective James Woods, whose work on a narcotics case leads him to the Women’s Medical Society Clinic, which Kermit Gosnell (Earl Billings) owned and operated. A legal search of the premises reveals something far more sinister than imagined, leading to an investigation where illegal abortions were performed in unsanitary conditions, untrained staff administered anaesthesia (resulting in the death of one woman), and numerous newborns were killed during botched abortions. Assigned to the case is Assistant District Attorney Alexis McGuire (Sarah Jane Morris), who not only has to tackle an emotional firebomb of a criminal case, but also the nonchalant attitude of a media class who essentially blacked out the story.
That story is very much the strength of a movie that enthrals, angers, and will leave many bewildered at how such horrific things could happen with ease. Some moments are so aghast in its monstrosity, that you would have to remind yourself that it is a true story to believe it.
Performances are strong all around. Cain continues to prove himself a commanding presence since his days as Superman on Lois and Clarke, and Morris brings the emotional weight needed as a lawyer and mother confronted by crimes unfathomable. Most memorable is Ear Billings’ portrayal as Kermit Gosnell. Chilling and all sorts of creepy, Billing delivers a villainous turn that is all chuckling, sociopathic evil, a supposed warrior of pro-choice activism proving to be a cold-hearted butcher.
Director Nick Searcy (who also portrays defence attorney Mike Cohen) has presented a film of disturbing content that will shock many in both the sadistic nature of Gosnell’s crimes, and the blasé attitude from the nations media in covering this horror story from the “City of Brotherly Love”. No doubt many will smear its content and those associated to the presentation of it. It is recommended you watch the film yourself and make up your own mind.
