A Deadly American Marriage

In 2015 the Irish businessman Jason Corbett was found dead in a house in North Carolina. His wife Molly and her father Tom called the police and said he had attacked them and that they acted in self defence. A baseball bat and a brick were at the scene. Corbett's two children from his first marriage were in the house. Jessica Burgess directs. The documentary was released on Netflix. Its form is built on hearing both sides: Molly and Tom Martens speak to camera, and so do Jason's sister and his children, now grown. The accounts do not match and the documentary does not try to reconcile them. The legal process ran long. The two were convicted in 2017, the verdict was overturned on appeal, the case was heard again, and in 2023 they accepted a lesser charge; both were released in 2024. The hardest part is the children. They were small at the time, and what they remember years later changes according to who is telling it; the documentary shows that uncertainty directly. What is argued about is its claim to balance; giving both sides equal room looked to some viewers like indecision and to others like honesty. Who it is for: viewers who follow true crime documentary and accounts of court process. Who it is not for: the subject is heavy, the claims of domestic violence are distressing, and the film reaches no clean conclusion.