In Cleveland, a murderer and rapist is accumulating victims while people do not seem to care about the missing women. This documentary explores his victims, through surviving family members and, most importantly, through surviving victims. This is done with interviews, court footage, and information written on the screen.
Written by Nels Bangerter and Laura Paglin with the latter directing, the film is brutal in its approach and it pulls no punches and discusses all the details they can get on the cases and from the surviving victims. This leads to direct impressions on the killer and information that is brutal to listen to and can be very hard for some to deal with. This does not mean that the film should not be seen, but those with certain triggers may want to avoid it. Others should absolutely see it as it shows well how society can ignore a serial killer when certain factors are all presents and when people have a predilection to ignore the victims. Here the societal situation and proclivities of some of the victims (and perhaps most of them) had their missing persons cases mostly ignored until women survived their ordeal and managed to tell their stories. Those stories are rough to listen to, but when paired with the other victims; they become a lesson in not missing on clues and obvious red flags about bad people and potential serial killers.
One of the Subjects/Survivors of the film, Vanessa Gay, tells her story very honestly through interviews and through her court testimony which, with a few other people, gives the film this honesty and brutality in how it approaches the subject. Her interviews are the most emotional and gripping. She talks in a way that brings people in and makes them want to listen even though what she is talking about is very difficult to listen to. Her courage in doing this is a beacon of light, even though what she is talking about is very dark and hard to listen to. Her testimony is filled with emotions and also allows seeing in the courtroom as her attacker looks on during this time with seemingly no emotions. This approach is something that adds a lot to the film which is already full of information and emotions by way of the victims and their families.
The film takes a direct approach to how the subject is handled while giving the victims and their families respect in how they are depicted and interviewed. Unseen touches upon a few hard subjects including drugs, prostitution, victimization, and a serial killer who preyed on those who society usually ignores. It’s a strong documentary that is a heavy, hard watch but worth it to see how this could happen in a big city, anywhere really.