CAPTIVATED – THE TRIALS OF PAMELA SMART

Pulsating with sex, drugs, and betrayal, a small-town New England murder became one of the highest-profile cases of the past twenty-five years. The first fully televised court case, the Pamela Smart trial rattled the consciousness of America. From gavel to gavel, a nation tuned in, and reality TV was born. The trial, the non-stop media attention surrounding it, and the events that caused it have inspired over 20 years of television, books, plays, and movies, including To Die For, starring Nicole Kidman and directed by Gus Van Sant. With the suspense of a fiction thriller, the film rewinds the facts. It probes whether the media’s insatiable storytelling combined with Pamela Smart’s demeanor and naivete settled the verdict long before the case was argued in court. Captivated makes us question everything we’re told, as the line between news and entertainment continues to blur.