What Jennifer Did Review: A Netflix Docuseries That Does the Homework
Director: Jenny Popplewell
Streaming Platform: Netflix
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 3.5/5 (three and a half stars)
The new Netflix true crime documentary What Jennifer Did explores the harrowing story of Jennifer Pan, who rose to Canadian media prominence when, in 2010, she survived a tragic home invasion that led to the death of her mother Bich, leaving her father Hann criticisms. As we will see in our review of What Jennifer Did, however, not everything is as it seems. It is an 86-minute docufilm that sheds light on one of the most terrible cases in international crime news which saw the death of a woman at the hands of her daughter. But who is Jennifer Pan, the protagonist of the new Netflix docufilm What Jennifer Did and what is the true story that inspired the feature film? Let’s find out together.
The documentary by American Murder: The Family Next Door writer and director Jenny Popplewell leaves out key details that could have enriched the drama, while also failing to bring to the screen an in-depth discussion of the socio-economic reasons that contributed to the tragedy. While the narrative is engaging, it doesn’t add much more to what could be a quick read of the articles available online on the case. In November 2010, Jennifer Pan called 911, excitedly reporting that a group of three armed men (all black, one with a Jamaican accent and another with dreadlocks) had broken into her home in Markham, Ontario. In the recording featured in the documentary, the girl – tied to a railing on the upper floor – can be heard screaming in the direction of her father, who is moaning in the background. When the police arrive, the officers find themselves faced with a horrifying scene: the house is completely turned upside down, mother Bich is lying on the ground, dead, and the father Hann is seriously wounded by a gunshot to the eye. Only her daughter Jennifer was miraculously found unharmed.
What Jennifer Did Review: The Story Plot
Born in 1986 on June 17, Jennifer Pan is a Canadian girl who committed a terrible crime in 2010 and who today becomes the protagonist of a new Netflix docufilm that tells her story. Pan was convicted of a profit-making attack on both of her parents, which resulted in the death of her mother, Bich Ha Pan, and the wounding of her father, Huei Hann Pan, both immigrants from Vietnam to Canada. due to the Chinese diaspora. The crime committed by Pan took place in the house owned by the Pans in Canada, namely in Unionville, Markham, Ontario. It was the spring of 2010 when Jennifer Pan began to premeditate the killing of her parents who had raised her in a very restrictive way during adolescence, not allowing her to have a social life or a boyfriend, even though she had a relationship with a certain Daniel Chi-Kwong Wong who later ended.
The two, however, got back in touch shortly before the crime and together they came up with the plan to kill her parents by hiring a professional killer to carry out the hit for 10 thousand dollars, killing both of her parents and calculating how much money they would earn, then, from inheritance: 500 thousand dollars. Pan and Wong’s plan was also to move in together. The murder then took place at Pan’s house on 8 November 2010 when Jennifer herself opened the door to the hitmen who she had contacted and then went to bed. Three people thus entered the Pans’ home at night armed with guns and initially demanded money, then took Jennifer Pan’s parents into the basement where they shot them several times. The mother was killed but the father survived his wounds. Then, after taking the cash, the three ran away. Pan was ultimately found guilty of multiple charges and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years, the same sentence as her co-conspirators. In May 2023, the Ontario Court of Appeal ordered a new trial for Pan and her co-conspirators on the first-degree murder charge, upholding her conviction on attempted murder.
What Jennifer Did Review and Analysis
What Jennifer Did features the usual series of reconstructions to give the narrative a dramatic tone, enriched by the first-hand accounts of homicide detectives Bill Courtice and Alan Cooke, whose intuitions proved fundamental in shedding light in a short time on the case. The most important material in the documentary, however, is footage from the interrogation room of the York Regional Police Department, where Jennifer made three different statements, repeatedly changing her version of events. Without wanting to reveal too many details about the story (despite the title itself betraying its epilogue), what emerges from Jenny Popplewell’s documentary is a narrative that, although lucid and punctual, is too superficial on the motivations behind the crime. The show seems to focus excessively on the dynamics of events, almost completely neglecting the figure and background of Jennifer, her boyfriend Danny, and the accomplices involved in the murder.
The latter sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Bich and the attempted murder of Hann, are barely mentioned in the brief closing notes. Furthermore, What Jennifer Did seems to show very little interest in the cultural and family dynamics in progress, which instead certainly contributed (without this being a justification) to the realization of the tragedy. The only insight that is provided is the idea that immigrant parents can sometimes be too rigid towards their children, but neither the growing pressure of the family’s unattainable expectations nor What Jennifer Did during the years in whom he had pretended to attend university. Therefore, although rather intriguing for the topic covered, the documentary presents itself more as a general smattering than as an in-depth representation of the events narrated.
What Jennifer Did Review: The Last Words
Overall, What Jennifer Did is a well-made documentary with a captivating true crime story. Whether it’s a must-watch depends on your preferences in the genre. What Jennifer Did: The Jennifer Pan Affair leaves out key details that could have enriched the drama, while also failing to bring to the screen an in-depth discussion of the socio-economic reasons that contributed to the tragedy. While the narrative is engaging, it doesn’t add much more to what could be a quick read of the articles available online on the case.
What Jennifer Did Review: A Netflix Docuseries That Does the Homework - Filmyhype
Director: Jenny Popplewell
Date Created: 2024-04-11 19:06
3.5
Pros
- Lucid and timely account of the events
- Interrogation room footage
Cons
- Lack of interest in cultural and family dynamics
- Superficial portrait of the protagonists
