CHAOS: The Manson Murders is a documentary from Errol Morris about the titular case, the subsequent enduring cultural fascination with the case, as well as the idea Mason may have had involvement with covert government operatives who were in turn connected to covert ops MK-Ultra and Operation: CHAOS. Through archival footage and talking-head interviews, conducted as usual by Morris himself, these ideas are explored.
At first blush the subject matter seems a bit mainstream from one of, if not the, greatest living documentarians but it becomes increasingly clear Morris is less interested in the particulars of the case and more in it's broad and lasting appeal and what it may have to tell us about our past that could inform our present. No surprise, the film looks great, it's paced great, it's perfectly scored. It's a return to form for Morris whose 2017 limited series Wormwood was stunning but who hasn't had a knock out feature since 2008's Standard Operating Procedure.
Through the Mason case and the people involved in it from perpetrators to journalists compelling questions are raised that echo through our current landscape of blind political homogenization and surreptitious and overt government overreach. It reminds us that systems of control have always been in place, that those in power have always sought to perfect those systems of control, and any wistful talk of past benevolence in the government in the US are woefully naïve.
It informs but it stirs fear. It entertains but it cautions.
Currently streaming on Netflix.
Don't Miss It.
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