Quartile rating: 6/10 · 1 rating
This documentary explores the mystery surrounding the death of movie icon Marilyn Monroe through previously unheard interviews with her inner circle.
A competent but uneven documentary that leans heavily on archival footage and audio recordings to piece together Monroe's final days. The 'unheard tapes' conceit adds genuine intrigue and gives it some distinction over the many Monroe documentaries that precede it, but the overall structure is fairly conventional for the true-crime biography genre. The talking-head framing is workmanlike, and the ending fails to deliver meaningful resolution — fitting perhaps given the subject, but unsatisfying cinematically. Acting is largely irrelevant in a documentary context, with interview subjects varying in eloquence and insight.