Charlie Says

By: Ashlee Dell’Arciprete

Films centered on serial killers and mass murderers have seen its rise in 2019 as America becomes increasingly obsessed, but no film has seen its retelling into narrative film quite as over-the-top as Charlie Says, the upcoming film about the infamous Manson Family murders. The film held its New York premiere at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival, which followed its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival last year.

Charlie Says tells the story of the Manson Family, the cult founded by mass murderer Charles Manson (Matt Smith) in the 1960s. The film takes place under the umbrella of the murders that were committed by Manson and his followers, but focuses on the three main women who killed for him – Leslie Van Houten (Hannah Murray), Susan Atkins (Marianne Rendón) and Patricia Krenwinkel (Sosie Bacon). The three girls, nicknamed by Manson as Lulu, Sadie, and Katie, are under 23-hours-a-day death row cell restrictions at the California Institution for Women. The film shuffles back and forth between the women in prison and their time in Manson’s cult, mainly in the eyes of Leslie/Lulu. A social worker, Karlene Faith (Merritt Wever), begins teaching the women college coursework while she attempts to understand why everything Charlie said is still very much ingrained in their heads. Through the various flashbacks into their time in the Manson Family cult, the trio constant repeat what “Charlie says” and it becomes unfounded how Manson’s still has control over them even years later.

The film is basically a series of flashbacks into Manson’s cult intertwined with the girls’ current reality at the Californian prison, but the flashback scenes are not set up in any logical order. As every scene escalates in its craziness until the inevitable gruesome Tate murders committed by the girls, there is one huge aspect the viewer is longing for – guilt. Even through Karlene Faith’s personal quest to rehabilitate them, it takes nearly the whole length of the film for Manson to be denounced. However, one redeeming aspect is Lulu’s admission by the end.

The murders shown in the film are brutal, especially when Lulu must decide to take part or not, and proceeds to have an absolute rampage. However, we would expect no less with a film about Charles Manson. The most significant murder from the original Tate case, the murder of pregnant Hollywood actress Sharon Tate, is merely glossed over as well. The other victims of the Tate murders, though, are shown very graphically in said scene with Lulu.

What Charlie Says fails to explain is just what would make these girls want to kill for Manson, which may be where the connection may feel lost for some. All in all, though, Matt Smith is a huge stand-out in the film and gives a striking portrayal of Manson. Marianne Rendón, Hannah Murray and Sosie Bacon are the real stars of the film and it definitely shows that they had to dig deep in order to try and get inside of the mindset of the women they portray. Not only is the main cast of the film women, but it is also written and directed by women as well, with Mary Harron and Guinevere Turner respectively.

Charlie Says had so much potential to portray a female perspective into the reasons why Charles Manson’s followers so passionately followed him and committed crimes for him. Matt Smith delivers well on the role, but the script still begged for an earlier admission on guilt and explanation as to how Manson succeeded at actually building a cult. The film marks 50 years since the bulk of the Tate murders, so this won’t be the last you’ve heard of Sharon Tate as Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is slated to be released later this year. Right as the credits are about to roll, there are some redeeming qualities but not enough to do what “Charlie says.”