Casting JonBenet
A formally daring true-crime documentary turns a Colorado community's reenactments and memories of the JonBenet Ramsey case into a study of how tragedy becomes mythology.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- serious
- reflective
- eerie
- focused viewing
- true crime discussion
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film's uniquely thought-provoking hybrid of true crime documentary, reenactment, and community portrait.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Local auditionees perform possible roles connected to the JonBenet Ramsey case while also discussing their own beliefs and memories.
The community's responses reveal how the unsolved murder has been transformed by media attention and collective storytelling.
Personal reflections, reenactments, and audition scenes continually blur observation, speculation, and dramatization.
The project elicits responses from residents of the Ramsey family's Colorado hometown rather than centering conventional investigators.
Films like Casting JonBenet, and why
The Thin Blue Line
unorthodox true crime documentary form, reenactment, and meditation on media mythology
Stories We Tell
self-reflexive documentary construction, subjective testimony, and unstable distinctions between fact and performance
The Act of Killing
true crime investigation reframed through community memory, cultural myth, and formal experimentation
Wormwood
documentary reenactments used to question memory, narrative authority, and the public appetite for sensational crime
Movie Details
- Director
- Kitty Green
- Release Date
- 2017-04-28
- Runtime
- 81 min
- Rating
- 5.7 / 10 (176)
Cast
- Hannah Cagwin
- Aeona Cruz
- Liv Bagley
- Shylee Sagle
- Danika Toolson
- Emma Winslow
- Elle Walker
- Kaydence Lucero
- Nicole Hamilton
- Kit Thompson
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Casting JonBenet about?
- A formally daring true-crime documentary turns a Colorado community's reenactments and memories of the JonBenet Ramsey case into a study of how tragedy becomes mythology.
- What is Casting JonBenet like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Casting JonBenet as measured, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Casting JonBenet violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Casting JonBenet as mild.
- What did critics think of Casting JonBenet?
- Critics broadly praised the film's uniquely thought-provoking hybrid of true crime documentary, reenactment, and community portrait.
- Which films are like Casting JonBenet?
- Films with a similar feel include The Thin Blue Line, Stories We Tell, The Act of Killing, and Wormwood.
- How long is Casting JonBenet?
- Casting JonBenet runs 81 minutes.
- Where can I watch Casting JonBenet?
- In United States, Casting JonBenet streams on Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads.
