‘What Jennifer Did’ Review — AI in true crime is unforgivable

A review of the new true-crime documentary, on Netflix now

What Jennifer Did, a new Netflix true-crime documentary from director Jenny Popplewell, tells the story of a girl named Jennifer Pan who survived a horrific home invasion. With her mother dead and her father in a coma, Jennifer undergoes extensive police questioning as they seek to understand just how this terrible event went down. Something, it seems, isn’t adding up, and Jennifer may be more involved than she’s letting on.

Most of the movie consists of Jennifer’s interrogation footage, a brilliant stylistic move that allows the audience to learn about twists and turns in the story the same way the police did. We find ourselves scrutinizing her tone of voice, her body language, her specific word choices, and her facial expressions, looking for any indication that all is not what it seems.

Unfortunately, the film is deceptive in a way that true crime should never be. While documentaries often feature recreations of things that the filmmakers otherwise didn’t have access to, there’s an ethical way to do it. What Jennifer Did seems to have used AI to generate photos of Jennifer. Especially in true-crime, that’s unforgivable.