Netflix's 'Unbelievable' documents how a young rape victim undergoes constant trauma thanks to society's refusal to believe in her truth
Sexual assault, rape and molestation. Any act that intrudes on one's person in a harmful or negative way is traumatic. What adds to the trauma for survivors of sexual assault is the associated stigma - from getting law enforcement to believe them to dealing with family and friends who look at you through a doubtful lens. It is this ordeal that is documented in Netflix's upcoming new drama 'Unbelievable'. Through the real-life story of Marie Adler, played by Kaitlyn Deven, 'Unbelievable' aims to explore how society, and law by extension, fails victims of sexual crime.
The miniseries focuses on a teenaged Marie, who files a police report claiming she was sexually assaulted by an intruder in her own home. But the investigating detectives doubt the truth of her story. And not just the law, people closest to Marie, her family and classmates can't seem to do better than to doubt her. "No signs of forced entry, no DNA, not a single neighbor saw or heard a thing," one of the investigators is seen saying in the latest trailer released by Netflix. It is evident by the trailer that Marie herself struggles to keep her memories in order. And the constant bludgeoning from the investigators doesn't help, it only adds to the fog that is in her mind.
"I wanted to go home. And they kept asking me the same question over and over again. How come your story doesn't add up? How come people don't believe you?" Marie says in the trailer. The questioning takes a toll on Marie and on the verge of a breakdown she tells the investigators, "Maybe I blacked it out." These inconsistencies are enough for police, media and society to suspect Marie's claims. Even the media starts reporting that her claims were fabricated. When she admits to her closed ones that she had, in fact, told the truth the first time around, they ask her why she then said otherwise. "Even with good people, if the truth is inconvenient, they don't believe it," she says. It is a statement that is at the crux of 'Unbelievable'.
Marie's story is inspired by the real events in The Marshall Project and ProPublica Pulitzer Prize-winning article, 'An Unbelievable Story of Rape' written by T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong. The 2009 article told the story of a young woman from Washington state who was charged with a misdemeanor for filing a false police report after she admitted that she lied about being raped. In the original article, the writers talk about how she gave in and "admitted" that she lied. "...her misdemeanor had made the news and made her an object of curiosity or, worse, scorn. It had cost her the newfound independence she was savoring after a life in foster homes. It had cost her sense of worth. Each ring of the phone seemed to announce another friendship, lost. A friend from 10th grade called to ask: How could you lie about something like that? Marie — that’s her middle name, Marie — didn’t say anything. She just listened, then hung up. Even her foster parents now doubted her. She doubted herself, wondering if there was something in her that needed to be fixed."
But as detectives Grace Rasmussen and Karen Duvall (played by Emmy winners Toni Collette and Merritt Wever), hundreds of miles away, later discover that she never lied after all. The perpetrator, a serial rapist from Colorado, was caught and sentenced to 327 years in prison.
Marie's story is a gut-wrenching account but not an uncommon one. According to RAINN, 230 out of every 1,000 sexual assaults are reported to the police. The same report elaborates that victims do not report sexual assault because they "believed the police would not do anything to help" and because they "feared retaliation". Directed by Oscar nominees Susannah Grant and Lisa Cholodenko, 'Unbelievable' is a story of unspeakable trauma, unwavering tenacity, and astounding resilience.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence, call RAINN's National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800.656.HOPE (4673) or visit online.rainn.org.
'Unbelievable' is set to release on Netflix on September 13, 2019.
