Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer

I think it would have been far more powerful to just record Aileen and show court footage. Broomfield's narration and presence are a distraction.

Wuornos is an awesome subject, but Broomfield is a mediocre documentarist.

Female Trouble irl

Incredibly sad story. The documentary wasn't that great, though. Director Nick Bloomfield is a poor narrator, and the first half of the movie struggles to find a thread to follow. Wournos' interviews provide the most chilling, intense moments.

Pretty good documentary

Not a huge documentary fan anymore, but this one stuck with me.

Stark contrast between the vibrant, chaotic personality of a woman who has suffered a life of abuse, and the limp handshake narration

One of those stories where all parties involved are equally fascinating and strange, even the documentarian.

More a personal account of a filmmaker's experience -- is she honest or performative? -- and obsession in interviewing her than actually a life-and-death film. Aileen provides catchy testimonies -- one time she's sober, in the last conversation she talks about crooked cops and tells that Iraq will destroy US in 2019 --, but Broomfield is maybe too control freak to let the movie breathe. Aileen was such a fan of Independence Day that in her final words she said she would return in Emmerich-style.

Distressing. The state again assuming the right to kill, so unsurprising. And every time someone mentions Aileen as a 'a female serial killer' I want to throw up a little. In Melbourne one would think Jarrad Matthews, in the US it is Aileen.

Tragedy abounds in Broomfield's second Aileen documentary.

Not even Charlize Theron's striking portrayal of the accused can rival the entrancing real thing, whose premeditated admissions of regret hardly mask her cancerous rage at a life span of abuse, oppression, exploitation and neglect.

I should say I haven't seen the first film and I think it hindered my appreciation of this. With that said Broomfield does and admirable job of presenting his bias in the film while still making a point: that Aileen is mentally unstable and the execution of such a person is a barbaric practice. Whether or not it was murder seems like it's up in the air but can you really kill someone when that's the case? In Floria it appears so.

"The only reality here is that truth is slippery, and that's something Broomfield understands more than most documentary filmmakers working today." - Ed Gonzalez

Effective indictment of capital punishment, and presentation of a world that seems to drive nearly everybody in it crazy. As in Broomfield's earlier film on Wuornos, perhaps the most shocking aspect is the interconnection between police work and movie deals. Reminiscent of CLOSE-UP when the filmmaker becomes involved in the appeal. Ultimately very sad.

Great sequel to a great doco... he final words of Aileen are priceless