With more than 120 people queueing in line, the expectation for such a large turnout would be that of a phenomenal movie. ‘Lindy Lou, Juror Number 2’ is a not a phenomenal movie. It is one to have in the background while scrolling through social media, not one to invest 85 minutes of one’s precious time. The documentary film could live up to most’s expectation, granted those expectations were low and patient.
Throughout the movie, the audience listens as the main character, Lindy, goes through a journey to find her peer jurors in order to better understand why their consensus, from 20 years prior, was to sentence Bobby Wilcher to death. Traumatized from the event, Lindy travels all over Mississippi and interviews the jurors one by one and little by little shares her feelings about Wilcher.
As she travels, the camera follows Lindy and documents her interviews through more “Lindy driving her car” shots, than I’d every hoped to see. Her story is tragic and all too real, however it’s repetitive and gives little background information on the Wilcher’s murders or Lindy’s obsession with him directly after the trial. Although the film is meant to be a puzzle and reveal parts of Wilcher’s life one by one, it became more of an anti-climatic straight line rather than enticing emotional masterpiece.
Some parts of the film were comedic and eye-catching, but one can only watch Southern white people talking about death whilst sitting on the front porch so many times. Because the film took place in the South, however, the movie gave an interesting background to Lindy’s opinions.
As a conservative coming from the deep South, her passion against the previous decision to sentence Wilcher to death was met with harsh backlash. Very few people agreed with her views about Wilcher, and she said in the film she’s lost many friends and family members because of her “obsession.” This element of the film was spot on and really showed how Lindy stood out.
Meanwhile, I couldn’t help myself from empathizing with Lindy and feeling connected with her as an audience member. As a lovable, funny and caring woman, Lindy gave light to a dark subject and made the viewers care. Although I found myself wondering if it would still be light outside when I exited the theater or if my car got towed, I also wanted to know more about Lindy and her story.
Wilcher’s death penalty was something I never knew about, nor cared about until I saw this film. Lindy’s guilt and her passion to take responsibility over her actions from 20 years ago was what kept me watching. Her story, as she stated in the movie though not about herself, caused a ripple effect that made me think. As each layer of Lindy and Wilcher’s connection revealed itself, I thought of more and more questions that kept me on the edge of my seat.
‘Lindy Lou, Juror Number 2’ was slow, but in the end I don’t regret seeing it, and I would watch it again.