Directed By: Gagan Rehill

Release Year: 2025

Studio/Streamer: Netflix

Runtime: 90 minutes

Audio Description Produced By: Descriptive Video Works

Written by: Lenizelle

Narrated By: Jazzy Frizzle

What is it?: A mostly centre of the road take on the events surrounding Jussie Smollett and his various court appearances following his allegation of a hate crime targeting him.

What Works: In order to pull this off, they needed everyone to show up, and basically everyone did. If you think you’re in for just a really long interview with Smollett, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to find that all sides are speaking their truths here. not only is Smollett telling his side, but so are the brothers he supposedly hired, as well as their attorney. Jussie’s attorney is here, as is his personal assistant, and a creative director who was at Jussie’s place the night of the incident. There’s a police captain from the city of Chicago, and some surprise twists and turns. There were actually witnesses, which I didn’t know, including a hotel security guard who claims he shined a flashlight after the commotion and saw two white faces, even though the brothers the police picked are black. So, the guard corroborates Smollett’s claim on that front. Plus, there was a neighbor who says she saw a white man with what looked like rope coming out of the back of his jacket while she was walking her dogs. Then, you have two individual journalists who broke down the information, and find several things never brought up by the media.

This film has been accused of trying to paint Jussie as innocent, but I think what it actually does is try to course corrrect sensationalism. when Smollett’s case hit the news, it became the center of attention, and so many learned about fragments of the story from clips online, or in short news briefs. I’m not sure how many individuals actually sat down to look at the case from their own perspective, and analyze all the evidence, to come up with their own conclusion. Often, when the court of public opinion makes their determination, it becomes really hard to push back. If you believe Smollett, it’s like having an opinion on Woody Allen, or Michael Jackson. It immediately becomes an accelerant to an eventual explosive conversation.

Whether or not you believe Jussie is up to you. There’s certainly enough presented against him to follow that narrative still, but perhaps for the first time, someone took a risk and said “but what if?”

What Doesn’t Work: Aside from functionality, this is a documentary of little consequence. The streaming services commission non-fiction content at alarming rates, because it is cheaper and easier to produce, and if they can center it on a click bait story, or a famous celebrity,they have the chance to win viewers pretty easily. This is click bait in documentary form. it might be good click bait, and even meaningful click bait, but if Netflix didn’t exist, this would have never made it to theaters, and wouldn’t have been more than a special episode of 20/20.

And while the filmmaker takes a mostly hands off approach in the editing, allowing each person to tell their versions without an accusatory interviewer pushing the conversation, or daring to ask them to elaborate, it can leave a feeling of things being unresolved if someone says something you’d like to explore more, but no one is there to guide the conversation. However, there’s also no one there to guide the conversation, and someone isn’t looking to become famous for launching an expose on Jussie. It’s a win/lose choice.

The Audio Description: I adore Jazzy, and I hope I hear them again on something, because this is pretty straightforward talking heads and a camera. there are few times where the description is much more than who is talking at any given moment, but in those fleeting seconds, DVW made good choices. Notably, a reenactment is well described.

Why You Might Like It: You are interested in this case,still, after all these years. And, you’re hoping to glean more information on the case. It is far less sensationalized than crap like Leaving Neverland, which has a very specific viewpoint it refuses to deviate from. This actually is a real attempt at giving all involved their own opportunity to speak, in a film that isn’t trying to make up your mind for you.

Why You Might Not Like it: it is clickbait, and as such, has a half life. It is one of those Netflix documentaries that everyone will talk about for about two weeks, but two years from now, no one will remember.

Final Thoughts: I’m actually pretty positive on this content creation. A valiant effort to present things as they are from the viewpoint of the subject on screen. It even goes so far as to show the various interviewees all looking at a video in the same way we tried to decide if the dress was blue or gold, as some people see white guys in the video, and some see black. In a court case where nothing seems black or white, and everything was trapped in a gray area being funneled through social media and memes, The Truth About Jussie Smollett seems to just want to educate you a little bit more than you likely were about what actually may or may not have happened, instead of letting the internet decide for you. It’s a win for free thinking, and it doesn’t seek to clear Jussie’s name, or put him in the ground. Our world is often missing the truth, and while I’m certain there is still even more to this story, it at least felt as unfiltered as it possibly could be, given what it is.

Fresh: 82/100