Mommy Dead and Dearest (2017)

Memorable, crazy movie

Just perfect...

Good concept, poorly executed.

A different way of telling a story

Gypsy Rose was the only child of Dee Dee Blancharde, a master manipulator and sociopath who apparently learned, maybe inherited those traits from her own mother. She fed Round-up to her grandmother, who managed to survive, may have possibly starved her own mother to death when she got to be too big of a medical burden, and got pregnant by a 17 year old boy when she was 24. If the sexes had been reversed she might have gone to jail or at least been registered as a sex offender. Instead, Rod Blancharde married her. But Dee Dee was too dark for the minor with her tales of witchcraft and her pet tarantula, and the marriage did not last long.So why are we here? In 2015 Gypsy Rose Blancharde arranged to have her boyfriend kill her mother as she slept, and then they celebrated with sex in the same house as the corpse and then stole Dee Dee's money - about 5K lying around the house - and went back to Wisconsin to live with the boy's folks. The police quickly figured out what happened, because Gypsy and her boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn, both left a trail a mile wide on Facebook about their exploits. At first the police thought this was a boiler plate murder situation - daughter and mother fight, daughter solicits the help of the boyfriend to kill mom, sociopath daughter and boyfriend go out and celebrate with mom's money. Thus Gypsy was initially charged with first degree murder.But then a closer look revealed that Gypsy was as much a victim as anybody. Since birth Dee Dee Blancharde had used her daughter to get money and attention by claiming she had multiple illnesses - muscular dystrophy, epilepsy, cancer, and gastrointestinal problems that required a feeding tube into which meds for all of the illnesses I just mentioned were pumped. Gypsy never went to school, never had any kind of relationship with anybody except mom, and believed she had all of these illnesses except the muscular dystrophy, because she knew she could walk, but was instructed not to by mom whenever people were around. She didn't even know her true age until after the murder because she had no concept of time. If a doctor got suspicious - not too many did - Dee Dee would just switch doctors. When somebody reported possible abuse, Dee Dee sweet-talked the deputies that visited out of believing the accusations. Dee Dee even got papers drawn up saying Gypsy was incompetent, so if she had ever tried to make a break for it, mom could have the law bring her right back to mom and her prison cell.What Dee Dee did not count on was Gypsy's puberty and online access getting her involved with a member of the opposite sex, and one who had as many mental problems as Dee Dee, maybe just as evil.Given all of the mitigation - to put it mildly - the prosecution realized that Gypsy was not just another natural born killer, but really was painted into a corner, and lacked any idea of what was right or wrong because the only two people in the world she had contact with her entire life were her sexual deviant boyfriend and her sociopath mom. So what happened to Gypsy, now in the clutches of the legal system? Watch and find out.Oh, and don't be too harsh on Gypsy's dad either. He tried to be involved in her life, but Dee Dee kept close tabs on her daughter and moved her around, ultimately out of state, to minimize ties.This was a good documentary that explored all of the angles, but at any angle Dee Dee Blancharde was a monster, and like the Wicked Witch in Wizard of Oz, it is difficult to feel too sorry for her early demise. Her relatives tended to agree.

Documentaries, when done well, are like great theater. Count "Mommy Dead and Dearest" among one of the best ever made. It also doesn't hurt that the filmmakers have an unbelievable fascinating story to work with."Gypsy Rose" sounds like a name for the title character in some form of art. But the story of her life is a tale best left for nightmares.Just when you think that there is nothing else that could horrify or surprise you, along comes a story that turns that on its head.It is going to take me a lifetime to forget what I just watched. I also now have a new added skepticism of or society, legal and justice system- all of which dropped the ball here.Sometimes the worse solution may end up being the only solution.

Truly one of the best true crime documentaries I have seen lately. This is not your normal true crime case. It's very well presented by the filmmakers and will cause many mixed emotions as you learn the whole story behind it. I don't want to give away anything for those who don't know the case, but just know that it is just as heartbreaking as it is horrific.

Mommy Dead and Dearest was extremely well-received in its world premiere today at SXSW Film Festival. This film morphs from apparent case of matricide into one of the journey of Gypsy, a severely abused child. Her journey as recounted in recovered VHS tapes and interviews will shock you even if you think you can no longer be shocked by what human beings are capable of. It is best not to give away too many of the details of Gypsy's story. The filmmakers have taken care to present the story with both sympathy and nuance as we learn the disturbing details behind Gypsy's story and most disturbingly how every institution that was supposed to help her – medical, educational, social workers, the criminal justice system – failed to attenuate the abuse and allowed the conditions that produced this bizarre and disturbing situation to continue. The film is scheduled for HBO and this story deserves to be more widely seen and understood. Unfortunately, in so many ways, the criminal escaped punishment and the victim has been imprisoned by what has happened. The filmmakers have done an excellent job of bringing this troubling story to life for the public.