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The summer of 1969 was filled with historic events—from the moon landing to Woodstock. It was also the summer of the gruesome Manson Family murders, which have become the topic of a multitude of books and movies ever since. But the film Charlie Says offers a different perspective on the bizarre cult and their actions.
Charlie Says shifts the focus from Charles Manson (played by Matt Smith) to the “Manson girls”—the three young women who were convicted of the horrific crimes. Three years after being sentenced to death, their sentence is changed to life imprisonment. Kept together on death row to separate them from the prison’s general population, the three women are introduced to Karlene Faith (Merritt Wever), a graduate student who is sent in to offer them an education. And as she works with the women, she listens to their stories and witnesses their gradual realization of the horrors of their crimes.
Through the women’s sessions with their teacher and flashbacks to their lives with Manson and the rest of their family, Charlie Says tells the story from their perspective. It follows along on the adventures and the intimate moments, explores topics like Manson’s obsession with his musical career, and touches on some of his teachings. And, of course, it throws in plenty of drug use and nudity for good measure. In the process, it offers a closer look at the days building up to the group’s infamous crimes, and it shows how the women held firmly to their leader’s beliefs—even years later.
Unfortunately, though, the story here simply scratches the surface. While it explores some of the characters’ experiences within the cult, with an emphasis on the more shockingly graphic moments, it never really takes audiences deeper. Smith is fittingly mesmerizing as Manson, but that doesn’t really explain why so many people willingly followed him—to the point of committing gruesome crimes. At the same time, we see everything through the eyes of these three women (especially Hannah Murray’s Lulu), but we don’t really get to know them—their personalities, their motivations, their life before Charlie. The film doesn’t really touch on the how or why—and audiences will be left feeling disturbed but no closer to understanding any of it.
The Manson Family murders have been a haunting part of the nation’s history for five decades. But while Charlie Says takes the spotlight away from the mastermind of the crimes and turns it on some of the women involved, this new perspective fails to offer any new insights.
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