See see see: this doc about a girl (16) who gets life imprisonment

Dear true crime viewers, I have good news for you. Netflix is coming out with another one that will definitely make you want to throw your food, drinks, and everything around you at the screen. Terribly frustrating. Of course, the whole story takes place in America, so you can also criticize the justice system there. Get ready to be very irritated: it's about a sixteen-year-old girl who gets life in prison. WHUT?

Her name is Cyntoia Brown, and in 2004 (when she was 16 years old) she shot 43-year-old Johnny Allen dead. Right from the start, things go wrong: this man had sex with Brown for money, against her will. According to her, she shot in self-defense because she was scared and thought he would otherwise kill her. The prosecutors thought differently and labeled it as a robbery. She was tried as an adult and thrown behind bars. Life sentence.

Not just any life sentence, mind you, it's still America. No no, Cyntoia Brown was given two life sentences. While she was sixteen and a victim of sex trafficking. From a young age, she worked as a prostitute and was abused and threatened. That she would shoot Allen dead to rob him doesn't seem very plausible. Kim Kardashian and Rihanna thought so too (not the least to have on your side) and they launched the hashtag #JusticeForCyntoia into the world.

Successfully, because after fifteen years in prison, Cyntoia was finally released in August 2019. So a big plus is that this docu is retrospective and thus has a happy ending (which you already know in advance), which calms my frustration a bit. It's mainly a very interesting look at how this case came about and how unfairly few people stood by Cyntoia Brown. Extra special (or strange?) that this happened not so long ago.

‘When I was 16, I did a horrible thing. I do pray that you show me mercy and that you give me a second chance,’ says Cyntoia herself in the trailer. Well, reading it this way, I think she has served her time. The docu comes out on Netflix on April 29 and is of course a must-see if you're a bit into true crime. Like me.