On its surface, Mind Over Murder – the titillatingly titled six-part doc series that debuted June 20 on HBO – might seem merely the latest addition to a bloated, true-crime juggernaut. And yet in the critically acclaimed hands of Nanfu Wang (In the Same Breath, One Child Nation, Hooligan Sparrow) the Vox Media Studios-produced project becomes infused with an element rarely seen in our current corporate documentary age: nuance. Indeed, this in-depth exploration of a notorious case in which six men and women – all poor and white with two struggling with severe mental issues – were convicted (and subsequently exonerated) for the 1985 murder of Helen Wilson, a grandmother and beloved member of the Beatrice, Nebraska community, contains neither heroes nor villains. Just a lot of sad and tragically imperfect human beings.
So what led five of the “Beatrice Six” to confess to a crime in which not a shred of DNA evidence would ever be found to connect them? And why to this day is both the small town and Wilson’s family fiercely divided over their actual innocence? And why on earth would a filmmaker born and raised in China set out for the US heartland to try to understand the motives behind this horrific crime, its unorthodox investigation, and the decades-spanning trials and exonerations (followed by two civil suits)? Not to mention the making of the local playhouse’s production based entirely on court transcripts.
It’s a heck of a lot to tackle, especially for a dogged director not content to merely focus on story but to try to see the bigger picture. One in which the wider screen includes the question of how an individual can become so invested in a narrative as to be unwilling to even entertain the idea that their reality is likely a fiction. Can someone so detached ever be reached? After all, denial is a natural defense mechanism that prevents us from losing our very identity and sense of self. Is it even possible to override a feature so integral to the human psyche? Fortunately Wang, having firsthand experience of being “brainwashed” by self-preserving authority figures in her “one child nation,” is able to use her imagery to spotlight some actual solutions.
First off it’s important to note that the filmmaker relates deeply to her characters, including society’s most marginalized, and thus has a knack for bestowing true respect and dignity on all who appear in front of her lens. (Then again, the director likewise seems genuinely humbled by those she might not necessarily get – see 2017’s I Am Another You.) And equally key is how this stranger with a camera is able to convince those on all sides of a long-disputed narrative to connect with her (and therefore trust) right back. Which becomes less of a mystery from the panoramic point of view: Born in rural Jiangxi Province in the mid-80s, Wang was actually forced to leave school at the age of 12 to support her family when her father died. It was only through an insane amount of hard work (and near-miraculous luck) that the unlikely artist eventually made it from vocational school to a teaching gig, to studying English lit through a continuing ed program, to a full fellowship at Shanghai University, and ultimately on to NYU’s j-school (and being Oscar-shortlisted straight out of the gate with her 2016 debut Hooligan Sparrow). In other words, Wang has roots in an impoverished farming village not all that dissimilar from Beatrice; and pulled herself up (and halfway around the world) by her proverbial bootstraps. The very embodiment of the mythical narrative we call the American Dream.
In addition, Wang’s earnest commitment to radical transparency is always on full display, especially when it comes to process – from documenting the creation of a theater production (based on documents from an often flawed process) to screening a rough cut for a stubbornly denialist investigator. Sunlight shining from behind the scenes is the best disinfectant for the openhearted director; her belief in the power of art to break through lies admirably unwavering. As is her absolute conviction that only through empathy and patience – granting folks the space to embrace reality instead of forcing it upon them – can we silence the polarizing noise to slowly arrive at a mutual fact-based truth. Which may be the moral of the story for both “true” crime and life itself.