Film Review: "Girl in the Picture" (2022).

"Her identify was a mystery to everyone. Even her" in Girl in the Picture. This documentary film directed by Skye Borgman and is based on the books A Beautiful Child and Finding Sharon by Matt Birkbeck. The jaw-dropping true crime story of a search to solve a thirty-year old mystery: who was Sharon Marshall, and why was her real identity unknown to everyone - even her?

American murderer, rapist and death row inmate, Franklin Delano Floyd, was convicted of the 1989 murder of Cheryl Ann Commesso, as well as the kidnapping of six-year-old Michael Anthony Hughes, who he claimed was his son, from his elementary school in Choctaw, Oklahoma. Floyd is also considered a person of interest in the 1990 hit-and-run death of his second wife Sharon Marshall, mother of Michael Anthony Hughes. It was later discovered that before becoming his wife, Sharon had been raised by Floyd from an early age as his daughter and was kidnapped by Floyd as a child. Marshall's true identity remained a mystery until 2014 when she was positively identified as Suzanne Marie Sevakis, the daughter of a woman to whom Floyd was briefly married. He disappeared with Sevakis, her two sisters, and infant brother Phillip (also known as "Stevie") while her mother was serving a 30-day jail sentence in 1975. Sevakis' brother remained missing until 2019 when a man came forward believing he was Phillip; DNA tests confirmed his identity in 2020.

This saga went on for years and as strange as it sounds, nothing can prepare you for hearing the first-hand account of how this sociopath destroyed so many people's lives. It's a decently made one and it has a good way of telling its story. It has an important message in that it wants to help prevent other families from going through this. A complete and informative movie regarding a bizarre case of obsession and mischief. It's scary to admit this actually happened. A troubling but important story for people to hear...one of the craziest documentaries I've ever seen, albeit not the best produced. The reenactments were incredibly unsettling and confusing. Borgman handles these confessions responsibly. A lot of painful truth -- about the escalating nature of sin, for example -- comes from watching Floyd crumple into tears as he recounts his crimes. Shocking and provocative, Borgman's film upholds the binge watching generation's fascination with the true crime documentary. If there is a point to the film beyond simply retelling the saga's many horrors and waiting for the viewer's jaw to drop, it might be its own principals' disbelief. Disturbing but not irredeemably horrible. More it's a fascinating story of misplaced trust and single minded obsession that's a must-watch for true crime nerds and documentary fiends. However, this mind-boggling, aggravating account of child kidnapping compresses an entire season's supply of bizarre, shocking twists into one-hundred minutes. Nonetheless, the film is one of the most harrowing true-crime documentaries I've ever seen. The film is a remarkable and unforgettable kidnapping story.

Simon says Girl in the Picture receives:

Also, see my review for Dead Asleep.