Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer

R

Released Jan 9, 2004

1h 29m

Documentary

List

85%

61 Reviews

Tomatometer

73%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

British documentarian Nick Broomfield creates a follow-up piece to his 1992 documentary of the serial killer Aileen Wuornos, a highway prostitute who was convicted of killing six men in Florida between 1989 and 1990. Interviewing an increasingly mentally unstable Wuornos, Broomfield captures the distorted mind of a murderer whom the state of Florida deems of sound mind -- and therefore fit to execute. Throughout the film, Broomfield includes footage of his testimony at Wuornos' trial.

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Critics Consensus

This chilling, unsettling documentary provides an eye-opening look at both Wuornos and the American justice system.

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Audience Member

Broomfield has always been fearless in his pursuit of the truth, but this particular vehicle studies its subject with compassion and honesty.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

09/30/21

Full Review

Audience Member

There are a lot of death row documentaries and this is one of the less gripping as the charges are only loosely in dispute. However, it is still watchable enough and Aileen's mental state snd upbringing create angles that are reasonably explored.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

Full Review

William L

Fun Fact: This film technically gives Jeb Bush an acting credit on the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, which also includes lines such as: "This is a picture of Chief, the local pedophile." One of the most interesting aspects of this Nick Broomfield documentary is how the style of the production did not change at all in the decade or more since the release of the original film, Aileen: The Selling of a Serial Killer, though a lot of that may be due to how heavily the film reuses content from the first film, often to reestablish some of the content to build off of it, but done to such an extent that it intermittently seems to be retreading old ground. The most interesting aspects of the film stem from comparison to the original, seeing how characters have evolved over time and in particular their reaction to the film itself; Steve Glazer in particular with his weirdly upbeat personality but hatred of Broomfield's influence on his life is a particularly interesting follow-up. Still preserves an inherent discomfort given the intimate conversations with Wuornos herself, who may not have been a malicious serial killer in intent, but is plainly off-kilter. (3/5)

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

05/17/21

Full Review

Audience Member

An unsettling documentary about one of the first modern female serial killers. A real life story reminiscent in content and message to Capote's In Cold Blood. The documentary can be aimless and boring at times, but Aileen's presence is equally chilling and piteous.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

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Audience Member

nuked by asteroid in 2019

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/03/23

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Audience Member

i found Nick's voice overs to be super dull & boring; by the end i was really quite annoyed by it, haha. but this was a pretty good doc. her story is fascinating & hearing what she had to say about it at the different points in her journey was interesting.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

Full Review

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Nick Broomfield

Director

Joan Churchill

Director

Nick Broomfield

Self

Aileen Wuornos

Self

Jo Human

Producer

Nick Broomfield

Writer

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Empire Magazine

Rated: 3/5

Dec 30, 2006

Full Review

Wesley Morris

Boston Globe

The film stands quite chillingly as a final statement from a woman trying to fight her own commodification.

Rated: 3/4

May 21, 2004

Full Review

Jay Boyar

Orlando Sentinel

A haunting exploration of a ruined and wasted life.

Rated: 4/5

Apr 23, 2004

Full Review

Vadim Rizov

Filmmaker Magazine

[It] boasts the final interview conducted with its clearly unwell subject and some not entirely satisfying but queasily arresting self-interrogation by her documentarian.

Jan 24, 2023

Full Review

‎Jim Schroeder‎

The Advocate

Self-righteously predictable.

Apr 19, 2022

Full Review

Thrillist Entertainment Staff

Thrillist

A deeply fascinating follow-up because of how much of Wuornos' story is changed from one film to the next, as well as for its moving consideration of the complex and often unbalanced relationship between documentarian and subject.

Nov 28, 2018

Full Review

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Synopsis

British documentarian Nick Broomfield creates a follow-up piece to his 1992 documentary of the serial killer Aileen Wuornos, a highway prostitute who was convicted of killing six men in Florida between 1989 and 1990. Interviewing an increasingly mentally unstable Wuornos, Broomfield captures the distorted mind of a murderer whom the state of Florida deems of sound mind -- and therefore fit to execute. Throughout the film, Broomfield includes footage of his testimony at Wuornos' trial.

Director: Nick Broomfield, Joan Churchill
Screenwriter: Nick Broomfield
Distributor: DEJ Productions, Lantern Lane
Production Co: Lafayette Films, Channel 4 Television Corporation
Rating: R
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English (United Kingdom)
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 9, 2004, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 5, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $86.0K
Runtime: 1h 29m