Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
Twenty years after the modern world's most notorious child murder, the legacy of the crime and its impact are explored.
Casting JonBenét is a genuinely singular documentary experiment — rather than rehashing the crime itself, it uses the casting process for a reenactment film as a lens to explore how a community processes collective trauma, myth-making, and tabloid obsession. This meta-documentary approach is strikingly original and earns a real Novelty 4. The acting from the non-professional local participants is earnest and emotionally revealing rather than polished, landing as above-average for the unconventional format. Cinematography is competent and purposeful but unremarkable. The plot/structure is inventive but somewhat thin — the concept sustains interest without fully deepening. The ending, with its simultaneous reenactments, is memorable and conceptually bold but may feel more clever than emotionally resonant for some viewers.