The first crime documentary (commonly known as true crime) Canadian from Amazon is the work of a Montreal director. With The Unsolved Murder of Beverly Lynn SmithNathalie Bibeau had great ambitions: to raise the bar for a booming genre.
Posted at 8:00 a.m.
After watching the miniseries, which lands on Prime Video Friday in 240 countries and territories around the world, there’s no doubt in our minds: Nathalie Bibeau has raised her bet. The crime documentary catches our attention after 10 short seconds. And for four episodes, he completely absorbs it. All this despite a starting premise that is altogether banal, compared to other megahits of the genre, such as Making a Murderer, The Keepers and others Tiger King.
As its title suggests, The Unsolved Murder of Beverly Lynn Smith (in original English version, The Unsolved Murder of Beverly Lynn Smith) explores the homicide of a 22-year-old young woman, shot at close range in her home in Raglan, Ontario, in December 1974.
At that time, the crime had profoundly affected this community located north of Oshawa. But never as much as Barbra Brown, Beverly’s twin sister. In the first episode, she says that even today, she experiences anxiety. We also learn that she never listed her phone number and that she is unable to trust anyone.
Because the case remained unsolved for decades. She was the subject of a long quest for justice, which Nathalie Bibeau recounts in a non-chronological way, just to create suspense that is sure to tape the most jaded of viewers in front of their screen.
“The affair really began on December 9, 1974, underlines Nathalie Bibeau. It is at the heart of everything. But in the last 48 years, so much has happened… We had to decide when to reveal certain details to show the audience how rich and multi-layered this story is, and how it then turned into a real monster. »
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
Director Nathalie Bibeau
Lasting 45 minutes, each episode includes an impressive number of twists. The kind that elicits spontaneous vocal reactions, like a season finale of District 31.
As for the unavoidable reconstructions, they are far from being those – sometimes ordinary – which usually make up this type of production. Those of Nathalie Bibeau are impressionistic and devilishly effective.
We wanted a cinematic treatment. We wanted to look at this affair in a poetic and metaphorical way. We didn’t want to be literal in our way of telling.
Nathalie Bibeau, director
Pulsating music, which accompanies key sequences, helps give the documentary the feel of a larger-than-life crime thriller.
” The true crime are sometimes sensationalists, explains Nathalie Bibeau. We wanted to change the narrative. We didn’t want to glorify the crime, but rather to draw attention to the human aspect of the case. »
Missed appointment
Result of the association between Amazon Studios and Muse Entertainment, a production company based in Montreal, The Unsolved Murder of Beverly Lynn Smith will have its world premiere Saturday at the Hot Docs Toronto International Documentary Festival, which is in full swing until May 8.
For Nathalie Bibeau, this is a chance to exorcise a missed appointment. In the spring of 2020, his first feature film, The Walrus and the Whistleblowerwhich examines the captivity of marine mammals, was to be launched with great fanfare at the prestigious Toronto meeting, but after the arrival of a certain pandemic of COVID-19, it had to be satisfied with a virtual premiere.
“I was heartbroken,” recalls the director.
In the end, this approximate release did not undermine the career of the film which, after winning the audience award at the Hot Docs, traveled to around twenty festivals around the world. And Nathalie Bibeau attended each of them…staying at home, in the Outremont borough, in front of her computer screen.
PHOTO DARREN GOLDSTEIN
Nathalie Bibeau, during the filming of Unsolved murder of Beverly Lynn Smith
That’s why today, she stamps so much impatience, 24 hours before flying to Toronto.
“It’s so exciting! The Unsolved Murder of Beverly Lynn Smith is the result of the hard work of a small army. There were about 250 of them. They worked tirelessly for 13 months, day and night, weekends… It was not easy! »
Quebecer in her guts
Franco-Ontarian who grew up in Welland, near Niagara Falls, Nathalie Bibeau arrived in Montreal at the age of 17. After studying Russian history at McGill University and doing a master’s degree at the University of Toronto, she set her sights on Europe. She worked in the Foreign Affairs Department in Lithuania for a while, then she left everything to become a bartender in Ireland. A 180 degree turn that she describes as “the best career decision”.
It allowed me to rub shoulders with artists, musicians, etc. I realized it was my gang, my tribe. I needed to be creative… But my parents [deux professeurs de français] were horrified!
Nathalie Bibeau, director
Back in the country in the early 2000s, the young woman landed a job as a documentary producer at CBC Toronto. Ten years later (and then a mother), Nathalie left the Queen City to become a freelancer and – above all – go back to her roots by finding “her” Quebec.
“Moving to Montreal was a personal decision,” she says. I wanted to raise my children in French, so that they know Quebec culture, which I consider to be my culture even though I was raised in Ontario. Because in my gut, I’m from Quebec. »
As she prepares to turn the page on Beverly Lynn Smith, Nathalie Bibeau considers the future with confidence. She could abandon the documentary to make a feature film.
“What interests me is telling rich, deep and important stories. Even if it is difficult sometimes. Even when it monopolizes my time, my family life, my children… I want to continue attacking this type of project. »
The Unsolved Murder of Beverly Lynn Smith will land on Prime Video on Friday.