Directly in the top of viewings on Netflix since it was put online, Unpardonable features Sandra Bullock as an ex-prisoner in full reintegration into society. Is this thriller based on a true story? Warning, spoilers.
Warning, spoilers. It is advisable to have seen the movie Unforgivable before continuing to read this article.
After Bird Box, Sandra Bullock brings a new hit thriller to Netflix. In Unforgivable, available on the platform since December 10, the Oscar-winning actress plays Ruth, a former inmate who served a 20-year sentence for the murder of a police officer.
The film tells about her release from prison and her difficulties to reintegrate into society but also the search for her little sister Katie, whom she was forced to abandon after her crime. The demons of the past will resurface in his quest and reveal unsuspected truths.
The remake of a British series
While this dramatic thriller might just be based on a true story, it isn’t. Unforgivable is indeed the remake of a three-episode British mini-series, titled Unforgiven, by Sally Wainwright and worn by Suranne Jones, which aired on ITV in 2009.
The plot of the Netflix film by Nora Fingscheidt (Benni) and the British series are more or less the same. The two works also share the same twist, namely that we learn that in reality, Ruth protected her sister by pretending that she had shot the policeman when in reality it was Katie, then aged 5. years, who committed this murder.
Netflix
The two young girls were at the time cornered in their house, in which they had lived alone since the death of their parents and from which the police wanted to dislodge them. The chaos brought on by law enforcement and resistance from Ruth and Kate led to this terrible tragedy and Ruth’s sacrifice to protect her sister.
You should also know that children under the age of 8 cannot be prosecuted in Washington State. In Unforgivable, Katie was 5 years old when she committed this crime, so she would not have been sentenced for this tragedy.
Even though Unforgivable isn’t based on a true story, Nora Fingscheidt and Sandra Bullock have done some research, as the director explained in the film’s press kit:
“We talked a lot about how prison affects you. Sandra and I visited a prison and we spoke with women currently in jail and women who were jailed before. And we talked about the difference between what is happening at inside and outside.
We also chatted about how you should survive on the inside and how you are thrown out on your own in the outside world. The system expects people to adapt but it is difficult to manage that. Freedom can be quite intimidating. “
