Unbelievable is an 8-part series based on real life about a pair of detectives who diligently search for a serial rapist.
As the title of this article and the series I have spent some years modestly devoting some time to suggests, I typically write about women only in movies. However, I recently sat through (aka binged) an interesting dramatization on Netflix that tells of the concentrated efforts by female detectives in stopping a rather well-organized attacker, who has taken to meticulously raping women of all ages and in such a way that very little physical evidence is found. I’ll leave it to you to do your own research in discovering how closely it all follows reality, though it hardly matters since it’s a story well worth sharing both for the inspiring commitment of the people who struggled to capture the elusive criminal and the women he so tragically affected.
I’ll get my thoughts about the production out of the way, as I’m sure that may be one reason why you’re here, saying that some of it is overwrought, especially with the detectives, both Toni Collette and Merritt Wever well cast but sort of wedged into a mold that the ubiquitous procedural crime shows and movies have taken to shaping. These are two wonderfully talented actors, with Collette a terrific presence here and Wever, who was so significant in another series called Godless, always fun to watch, but their characters falling into traps that sort of keep them somewhat trope-ish. That aside, they are nonetheless good reason to watch and the entire show itself an very well made and traumatizing experience.
But let’s talk about Kaitlyn Dever, who stars as the real life Marie Adler. She begins the series in the aftermath of a terrifying sexual assault, a teenager with a history of jumping between foster homes and troubled backgrounds, now living in a youth housing apartment facility that gives young adults some freedom as they transition to independence. Marie, clearly shaken, is questioned by police at the scene, more than once, then again with detectives (the ones assigned to her are men, this a few years before the women cops start making connections between cases). She’s then at the hospital, where she tells her story again, then later once more at the police station. It goes on and on and we feel Adler’s dismay in the process. Witnesses are then culled for information and well, it’s not long before there are some deviations in Adler’s account, which prompts the lead detective (Eric Lange) to suspect she might not be telling the truth. Cutting to the chase, under duress, the young women confesses it never happened. Case closed for cops and those who know Adler, but for her, it’s the start of a nightmare where she is basically abandoned and ridiculed.
Naturally, as Marie’s ordeal unfolds, it parallels the investigation taking place three years later with Detective Grace Rasmussen (Collette) and Detective Karen Duvall (Wever) on the job, they eventually … well, you’ll have to see. We are meant to question if Marie is in fact a victim, while the show continually makes you believe she is indeed just that. It’s tricky and smart how they do this, leaving it properly to the end in disclosing her fate. The hooks in this are powerful.
Dever is absolutely riveting in this fragile role, carrying on her face such authentic betrayal and suppressed rage, it’s heartbreaking, her brow furled throughout with such convincing agony, it makes wondering what the truth is about her like a drug in staying with the show to find out. Marie is a victim in so many ways, it’s a wonder she’s standing up at all, and the diminutive Dever spends most of the series as a shell looking up to all those around here – many of whom are large authority figures. She’s a wonder to watch. She’s so profoundly effective as Marie, I became less interested in the efforts of Rasmussen and Duvall than wanting to see the daily struggles of Adler.
Unbelievable is a taut thriller, with plenty for fans of the genre to sink their teeth into, the story filled with good performances (look for particularly fine work from Danielle Macdonald portraying another young woman with a tragic story), it’s mostly female-led story empowering to be sure. However, it is Dever who rightly steals the show, offering us a vulnerable, touching examination of real violation and survival.