Certain crimes say a lot about our societies. As evidenced by the series Sambre, co-written and produced by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade and broadcast on France 2 since mid-November, which traces three decades of rapes on the banks of the Franco-Belgian river, the Sambre. “This story allowed us to tell the story of thirty years of not caring for victims of sexual violence. Thirty years of accessorized treatment of sexual delinquency,” explained Jean-Xavier de Lestrade (An ideal culprit, Laëtitia). More than just news items, certain crimes have a magnifying effect on our failings.
Two new series complete the criminal portrait of our societies at the end of November: A Friend of the Familyon OCS this Tuesday, which recounts the kidnapping of Jan in the 1970s by Robert Berchtold, friend and neighbor of the Broberg family, and Love & Deathwith Elizabeth Olsen and Jesse Plemons, on Canal+ this Thursday, which returns to the true story of a Texan housewife accused of having murdered a friend with an ax in the 1980s.
These two extraordinary criminal stories, explored respectively by Nick Antosca (The Act) and David E. Kelley (The Undoing, Big Little Lies), prove that monstrosity also hides in the gloom of everyday life. Even a small, quiet suburban town is full of atrocities.
A neighbor, a friend, and above all a predator
The kidnapping of little Jan in the 1970s shook minds in the United States. The story has already been the subject of several documentaries, including The Stolen Childhood of Jan Broberg (Abducted in Plain Sight) broadcast on Netflix in 2017. Aged 12, Jan, from a very pious family, is kidnapped by Bob Berchtold, the neighbor and friend of the Brobergs affectionately nicknamed “B”. Portrayed by Jake Lacy (The Office, The White Lotus) In A Friend of the Family“B” quickly weaves his web around this family, exploiting the flaws of each member to better close his trap on the little girl.
Far from being able to anticipate such a degree of perversion, the Brobergs helplessly witness the double kidnapping of their eldest daughter by their predatory neighbor. The miniseries highlights the control mechanisms of a child molester who draws on the naivety of a small town to commit his crimes. In the 1970s, the term “pedophilia” still seemed poorly understood, even absent from the collective mind. An asset for this monster with such an ordinary face.
Candy, a housewife who was bored (a little too much?)
How could Candy Montgomery (Elizabeth Olsen), a Texan housewife who is going in circles in her life, kill Betty Gore with an axe? The series created by David E. Kelley and directed by Lesli Linka Glatter (Homeland) delves into this news item from the 1980s, already fictionalized in the Hulu series Candywith Jessica Biel, released in 2022, and told in the book Evidence of love: A true story of passion and death in the suburbsco-written by Jim Atkinson and John Bloom in 1985.
Candy, a young woman without history, well integrated into her Methodist community, reveals a sunny personality, happy in a relationship and in her role as a mother. But, behind her mask of a perfect woman, she hides an emotional misery which she chooses to fill by starting an extramarital affair with Allan Gore, whose wife, Betty, is expecting a second child. Before offering themselves to each other, Candy and Allan establish numerous rules in order to prevent any emotional slippage. They must not fall in love, nor ever reveal their secret to their respective spouses. How do you go from an adulterous woman to a brutal murderer? Through a controversial trial, Love & Death analyzes the passage to the deadly act and the traumas which allow us to understand how the victim took the place of the executioner.