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Lead Critic for the site, as well as serving as an editor when needed.
Well, here it is. I was a little shocked at first when I saw this on the streaming giant but I’m also extremely glad this has come out. It’s great how fast this documentary was released as it shines light on things I didn’t know of before, and hopefully more people learn more as well.
While the documentary is based on Jeffrey Epstein, his life and those abused, the basis of the doc came from James Patterson, John Connolly, and Tim Malloy’s 2016 book, Filthy Rich: A Powerful Billionaire, the Sex Scandal that Undid Him, and All the Justice that Money Can Buy: The Shocking True Story of Jeffrey Epstein. The craziest part of this is that Patterson was Epstein’s neighbor in Palm Beach. He also served as the show’s producer, although he is only featured in one episode, which is disappointing honestly.
First of all, we all know what Epstein did was wrong but if you came here to read any type of conspiracy you’re unfortunately on the wrong article. As much as I would love to write a full-fledged editorial on every ounce of conspiracy surrounding Epstein, his island, and “alleged” co-conspirators, this isn’t the time nor place. You came here for a review.
I’ll be talking about the story for most of this piece, touch upon cinematography and technical things briefly, and end with what could be next for this story along with final thoughts on the documentary. This is my first review on a documentary, so be forewarned. Maybe this should be treated as I’m reviewing a film? I’ll see what I can come up with so let’s just dive right into it.
For those unaware, Jeffrey Epstein was essentially a financial advisor for rich guys and although coming from practically nothing, he made his money on Wall Street in the 1970s and ’80s and the rest is practically history. He owned about four other houses on top of his multi-million dollar “main” house in the Virgin Islands. He owned a helicopter and about three planes too, one of them a 727, because who needs just one nice, big house, right? He was friends with probably any rich, white dude you can think of but most importantly, from about 1996 until his arrest last July, sexually abused hundreds of girls ranging from 12-years-old to 21-years-old.
I really enjoyed the format and length of this documentary. It’s broken down into four episodes, each about an hour long. This is a great pace, especially for this subject. With a doc like this, rather than your typical 1 hour 30 minute runtime, you can tell a lot more of the story and focus on certain things for longer than you could with a normal documentary runtime. (You can also look at another Netflix documentary, Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness, as an example. Tiger King does great with the storytelling aspect of the show. It’s a lot of the same format in this case as well.)
The first episode starts off great. It begins in January 2012 with Epstein sitting in a room handling a deposition due to his “situation.” He’s the only visible person in frame but you can hear his lawyer and the lawyer asking him questions. Now, at this point in Epstein’s life, for the most part, everyone knows what he’s up to but he pleads the fifth, on the advice of his lawyers because he wasn’t dumb. At least not until he finally got arrested and convicted last July. The episode then jumps to the present day with a journalist from Vanity Fair being interviewed about her first experience with Epstein. The rest of the show follows the same format, jumping back and forth through various people’s dealings with him. Again, this really helps keep the story intact and every episode does great at setting up the following episode so that you’re not going to want to stop watching.
The cinematography is pretty solid with Filthy Rich. There are a lot of birds-eye shots and long shots down roadways and things of that nature. To me, it seems as if the director wanted to capture everyone in their own environment. During an interview with one of the women, the show opens with her telling a story of her childhood home and another interview has a shot of a woman on a cliff’s edge staring out at the ocean as she takes in a voice-over. The show’s focus is more on the women and those who helped stop Epstein’s crimes rather than Epstein himself by capturing the women in shots such as those I mentioned; we are living in their shoes rather than in Epstein’s. This is another great plus to this documentary.
Now, as of what could be next is hard to say. The story is — for the most part — told by director Lisa Bryant, and in an interview last month with EW, it hasn’t completely ruled out more episodes. I could definitely get behind more episodes for this show as there is more stories to be told and more areas to be explored, especially with the Royal Family, yes, that Royal Family.
To conclude, I would definitely check out this documentary. It has everything you want from one and sheds light on disturbing subjects albeit subjects that must be told. It brings new things to light I hadn’t known before and overall, I just enjoyed watching and learning from the documentary.
4.5/5 stars.
What are your thoughts on this doc if you have seen it? What are some of your favorite ones from Netflix? Also, if you really want to talk conspiracy on Epstein, here’s my Twitter. Oh, and be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram as well!
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From myself and the rest of us at TCS, we strongly believe everyone deserves their voice, no matter the issue. Sexual assault, in particular, is not something to be taken lightly and everyone has a right to speak up. Here is a link that anyone reading this article can use to call various hotlines for not only sexual assault but also things such as suicide and disorders, anonymously. And to everyone reading this, I hope you are having a great day or night and that you know that you matter and are important to us here at The Cinema Spot.
Lead Critic for the site, as well as serving as an editor when needed.
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