I remember being on the edge of my seat every time I turned on the news in 2021, waiting to hear if there were any updates on the Gabby Petito case.
As a young girl wanting to explore the world, fall in love, and experience all that life has to offer, I felt somehow personally invested in Gabby’s story.
I felt myself in this case, thought back to my experiences as a young teen experiencing a toxic relationship that, if I had been older, most definitely would have escalated to a violent relationship.
The documentary American Murder: Gabby Petito, released on Netflix in 2025, brought back that flurry of emotions for me, especially as a newly single young adult. Now, at Gabby’s age, I have gained a different perspective on the case and the realities of her life that have been shared with the public.
It’s been a while since this case was at the forefront of my mind, and the documentary did a great job of taking the viewer through all of the suspenseful moments and developments of the case, just as many of us witnessed when Gabby first went missing.
I felt the suspense building through episode one, especially with the preface of the bodycam surveillance footage of Gabby and Brian’s stop in Moab. To hear a police officer say that many young women go back to their abusers and ultimately get murdered sent chills up my spine.
To be so aware of the systemic patterns of domestic violence and abuse in relationships, to be trained to help vulnerable women in these situations, and then to support Brian by taking him to a hotel and leaving Gabby alone with her van absolutely boiled my blood.
The documentary represented Gabby’s parents and friends with grace and dignity. I commend the documentary for displaying the unfair treatment of Gabby’s parents and the lack of communication between them and law enforcement.
For news reporters to reveal vital information to them on live television is wrong and should never have happened. I am glad that the documentary took the time to highlight that and the pain resulting from the situation.
Episodes one and three bookended each other with the building of suspense as the audience was then faced with the disappearance of Brian Laundrie from his parents’ home. The episodes segmented the case perfectly, starting with Gabby’s disappearance, developing the clues and investigation, then finishing with Brian’s disappearance and discovering Gabby’s remains.
It was a good decision to interview one of the officials working on the case. Her perspective provides a lot of context that could have been overlooked. The officer also did a great job of connecting this case to more significant systemic issues of domestic violence and a lack of representation of POC and minorities.
Overall, this documentary does a fantastic job of laying out the entirety of the case in a comprehensive and digestible manner. If you are interested in true crime or documentaries, I highly recommend giving this a watch.
I hope that bringing this story back to the forefront of people’s minds helps to prevent other cases of domestic violence. As college students, we need to be mindful of the people we spend time with and watch out for our friends.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please reach out to campus resources such as CAPS, Campus Police, ADVOCATES for Survivors or Sexual Assault, or the Title IX Coordinator.
