“Hi, I’d like to report a domestic dispute.”
The opening line to Netflix show “American Murder: Gabby Petito,” is both shocking and chilling. Having been released on Feb. 17, the true crime docuseries details the story behind the 2021 murder of van-life vlogger Gabrielle Petito by the hand of her fiancé, Brian Laundrie. This review is concerned with the first episode of the three-episode series, titled “We Bought a Van,” and will discuss the content of said episode.
“American Murder: Gabby Petito” concerns itself with topics related to murder, domestic violence, suicide and manipulation. Parts of the docuseries often include intense music accompanied by footage of Petito and Laundrie.
The first episode of the series concerns itself with Petito’s life growing up and in high school, as well as the beginning of her relationship with Laundrie. The pair moved to Florida to live with Laundrie’s parents, and after Laundrie proposed to Petito, they began planning a life on the road as van-life influencers. Petito would never return home.
While on the road, a concerned citizen reported seeing Laundrie hitting Petito, and police stopped the van to interrogate the two. Petito and Laundrie spent the night separately before returning to their journey, during which Petito contacted her ex-boyfriend, who the show names Jackson, possibly to ask for help.
“American Murder: Gabby Petito” is unlike many other crime docuseries due to its use of found footage. As an aspiring vlogger, Petito had been recording many different parts of her journey with Laundrie. These videos are stitched in throughout the docuseries, as well as text conversations, police footage and testimonies from Petito’s family and friends. Most chillingly, the docuseries includes journal entries of Petito’s — complete with an artificial recreation of Petito’s voice reading them aloud.
The prevalence of footage taken from the life of Petito makes the series seem unreal. Oftentimes, all the audience can learn about a murder victim is from testimony by those who knew them. In this series, the audience has a chance to see who Petito really was, and how she behaved in various situations — as well as how Laundrie behaved.
Seeing Laundrie in photos and videos with Petito is perhaps the most horrifying part of the first episode. The show doesn’t shy from including media of him, including videos he took with Petito as a part of their vlogging.
“Brian had a very dark side of him,” Rose Davis said in the docuseries. Davis is one of the many people who provide interviews for the show and is named as one of Petito’s closest friends. Although Petito’s parents also speak during the show, Davis’ testimonies are perhaps the most ominous.
Throughout the episode, Davis details exchanges between Petito and Laundrie as well as changes in Petito’s behavior that she had noticed both before and during the road-trip. Davis even described a notable event in which Laundrie stole Petito’s wallet to prevent her from having a night out with Davis.
“I think a big reason Brian didn’t want her to do the vlog is ‘cause I think he was worried that the truth of everything would be on footage,” Davis explained. “There’s that possibility that he says the wrong thing or acts the wrong way while she’s recording.”
The climax of the episode comes when the episode finally returns to its opening phone call. A concerned citizen calls for the Utah police to check on Petito and Laundrie. Body camera footage reveals that both pairs had marks on them, and they independently said that while they fought, Petito had been the one to first hit Laundrie.
The police at the scene ultimately decided to split the two up for the night — Petito took the van, while Laundrie was taken by the police to a nearby hotel. The pair were told to cease contact until the next day, when they would continue their journey.
A week later, Petito would upload her first YouTube video to the channel “Nomadic Statik,” featuring both Petito and Laundrie. Both the channel and her Instagram are still public online.
“American Murder: Gabby Petito” is not the easiest show to watch. Laundrie’s efforts to keep Petito close to him and isolate her from the people in her life are sickening. Text conversations and videos reveal Laundrie’s controlling nature, and the thought that he will eventually murder his fiancée makes viewing difficult at times.
The most impressive aspects of the Netflix show are the usage of media and the editing. The docuseries cycles through various pieces of media in an effort to string together the entire story of Petito. The editing is beyond impressive, from music to mixing to cuts between footage. The intensity only rises as the episode progresses closer and closer to Petito’s final days.
Although stressful, the show is a very good watch. Viewers should be aware of content warnings beforehand due to the themes being presented, but it’s both interesting and engaging. I’ll finish this one.
Rating: 5/5