dominicjohn
Gripping and suspenseful doc turned thriller that stays with you for a long, long time. The film challenges everything you know about love and the dark side of its influence. Prepare to get the chills.
katebust
KILLING FOR LOVE tells the story of Jens, a young man who's unfortunate love for murderous Elisabeth has landed him in prison for the majority of his life for a crime he did not commit. This film is one part fascinating murder mystery, which will engage any true crime lover and one part advocacy film, demanding Jens' release with the mounting evidence that the investigation and trial of this crime were clearly mishandled. I found this film illuminating in so many ways and hope that it helps Jens and the many others like him who are facing jail time, even life sentences for crimes they did not commit.
looseseal-15913
A love story, a murder, a man in prison for 32 years for a crime he never committed.In the vein of Making a Murderer, Killing For Love takes us through the heartbreaking story of a man fighting desperately against the criminal justice system. Jens Soering meets Elizabeth Haysom in his first year of college in the United States. He is from Germany, an outsider, very smart. She is also terribly smart, manipulative, charming. Jens is enchanted with her right away and their love affair begins. They write each other love letters when they are apart--which are narrated perfectly by Imogen Poots and Daniel Bruhl--long, poetic confessions of love and fantasy and twisted desire. Elizabeth writes again and again of her hatred toward her parents; their drinking; her desire to have them dead. When her parents are brutally murdered, Elizabeth and Jens flee to Europe, but are eventually captured and there's talk of the death penalty. Jens, wrapped up in his obsession and desperate to save his girlfriend, confesses to the crime. The story twists and turns, each person adding more and sometimes contradictory but of the tale--from folks who were investigating the crime when it happened to those still rallying and fighting on behalf of Jens. I found myself both captivated by the twists and turns of the narrative, and heartbroken for Jens. This film is engrossing, crushing, and a story well-told.
darnsian
This is a great documentary about a horrible crime, spanning decades as the filmmakers slowly peel back public appearance to reveal new information and the emotional lives of the people involved. It reminded me yet again how complicated true life is, and that we must always stay open, must always resist the rush to judgement. I grew up in the Virginia area and remember well when these murders were committed. This doc painstakingly presents alternate versions of the event itself, and allows us to exist in the contradictory space created between two people, a swirl of deception and self-deception, loyalty and guilt - the human ecology. An intense, engrossing, deeply emotional film - I so enjoyed being invited into Mr. Soering's mind over the years. The filmmakers cannot deliver us a pat ending - it doesn't exist and probably never will - but I appreciate their intention to be fair, and to investigate. A great crime doc that turns the tables on a prevailing narrative. There are always other sides of the story.
AD
