Aileen Wuornos’ story has been told before: in the 1992 documentary. Aileen Wuornos: The sale of a serial murderr; in the 1992 film Exaggeration: The Story of Aileen Wuornosin which she was played by Jean Smart; and in the 2003 film Monsterwhere she was played by Charlize Theron. And now it’s being retold on Netflix. Aileen: Queen of serial killers.
The 1992 documentary has a 100% critical rating from Rotten Tomatoes, the 1992 film was well received, and the 2003 film won an Oscar for Theron. Which makes me wonder: why return to such a well-worn path? What part of this horrible story hasn’t already been told, and hasn’t been told well?
Who was Aileen Wuornos?
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Wuornos was executed in 2002 for the murder of seven men in Florida in a case that affected the entire country. Wuornos, a sex worker with a horrible past, claimed her first murder was self-defense, but she did not refute the others.
That first plea forms a key part of the new documentary, which features her testimony about a brutal sexual assault and does not prevent the speakers from commenting, allowing Wuornos to tell her story without interruption. The film also paints a bigger picture: the prejudice against her as a woman and a sex worker, the sensational news, the shocking rhetoric of the top prosecutor, and more.
The goal, says director Emily Turner, is to immerse you in the investigation: “We wanted it to feel like you were watching the story unfold with the people inside,” she told Netflix’s Tudum.
“It’s much easier to dismiss someone who has committed such heinous acts as a cold-blooded murderer than it is to dismiss a deeply damaged human being,” Turner explains. “She was actually created, and that’s chilling.”
That’s not to say the new documentary takes Wuornos’ side. “There are some people who talk about her being a feminist icon. I think the truth of what she did is brutal,” Turner says. “There are victims at the forefront of this, and they continue to be at the forefront of our minds.”
He continues: “We want her to be the hapless victim where society created her and life just happened to her, or we want her to be a cold-blooded killer. I don’t think either of those do her justice. She’s charismatic and she’s a killer… It’s a lot easier to be categorical,” Turner says. “But that’s not life, is it?”
Aileen: queen of serial killers is streaming now on Netflix.
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