Three young women were sentenced to death in the infamous Manson murder case, but when the death penalty was lifted, their sentence became life imprisonment. One young graduate student was sent in to teach them – and through her, we witness their transformations as they face the reality of their horrific crimes.
“Charlie Says” follows the story of Charles Manson, who was a criminal, cult leader, and musician who ordered his followers to commit a series of murders that took place in 1969. This film is specific to the period of time when “Charlie” (Matt Smith) was living with amongst his followers that consisted of mostly women, on a secluded property in California.
He created a somewhat hippie lifestyle that included lots of hallucinogenic drugs, “living in the now” with no clocks without the illusion of time, submitting to sexual urges amongst each other, releasing of the ego was a big thing for him and becoming completely free. He was obsessed with The Beatles and interpreted specific lyrics to fit his own agenda of an apocalypse that was coming and the need for him and his followers to prepare for a race war.
We follow these accounts as told by three of the women in his cult, “LuLu” Leslie Van Houten (Hannah Murray), Patricia Krenwinkel (Sosie Bacon), and Susan Atkins (Marianne Rendon), who were sentenced to death for murder and awarded counseling by a writer and feminist named Karlene Faith (Merritt Wever).
I was super excited to see this movie. As someone who is insanely into murder mysteries, the occult, and crime stories, I was a bit disappointed that it didn’t give me more backstory. I still want to know how Charles Manson grew up, what propelled him to seek out this way of living, what was the driving force or circumstance that led him from an average family to form a cult of killers? Or did he have an average family? I have no idea. This movie needs a solid backstory that I deeply want and even now I am feeling the urge to know about the early life of Charles Manson. Every story needs to tell how characters get to the point they are now. How did they develop their belief systems? When did they choose to stray from their families or are they following a family cycle?
I did, however, love the drama of the film. I am becoming a fan of Matt Smith and how he handles deep dramatic roles. After seeing “Mapplethorpe,” I was excited to see what he would do with this character and I was not disappointed. The cast was beautiful and the story was well written. I loved the role Karlene Faith played in the story and I thought she was so important because, through her counseling, the women discovered their own voice and accountability to their past. They had a breakthrough moment by the end of the film that they were avoiding the whole way. Having said that, I definitely feel that loss of a true beginning. I feel like I walked into the movie about 30 minutes late. Great film but really needed that anchor at the start.
In theaters May 10th
