Don’t Pick Up The Phone review: A chilling retelling of a heinous crime that tests the limits of human reasoning

3/5

Story:

In 2004, Mount Washington detective Buddy Stump was called in to investigate one of the biggest, and strangest cases in his career. While arriving at the scene of the crime, a McDonald's outlet, he was unable to decipher exactly what happened from the hotchpotch of testimonies he heard. On viewing the security camera footage, Stump discovers a shocking crime that was orchestrated by a perpetuator who was merely a voice on the phone.

Review:

Don’t Pick Up The Phone follows a real life crime that seems to test the limits of human reasoning and sense of compliance. Set in the United States, the documentary revolves around the story of how a hoax caller, posing as a police officer, was able to convince managers of fast food restaurants to sexually harass their employees, some of them minors.

The documentary starts off with a case that took place in 2004, when detective Buddy Stump was called in to investigate a strange complaint about an incident that took place at his local McDonald's outlet. Unable to get a proper account of the events from the people at the restaurant, he decides to view the security footage, and is shocked to see how a young employee at the restaurant was stripped, harassed and sexually assaulted, after an anonymous caller posing as a policeman was able to convince the restaurant manager that the victim had stolen a customer’s possessions.

The hoax caller was so convincing in his accounts that he not only managed to convince the manager of his authority, he was even able to get the manager’s fiance, who had been instructed to watch the victim, to forcefully assault the victim, a teenager. Determined to bring the perpetrator to justice at any cost, Stump launches a thorough investigation into the case, and is shocked to discover that it was not an isolated incident, as he discovers a pattern of similar calls being made to several fast food outlets over the course of a decade.

The makers of the documentary have done a good job in putting forth the disturbing tale in a way that delivers maximum impact to the viewer when it comes to the heinousness of the crime. The victims themselves,many of them minors at the time the incident took place, are given the chance to narrate the ordeal from their perspective, and reveal how they carried the trauma with them their whole lives. The people on the other side of the case, the managers who did the hoaxer’s bidding, are also given a chance to explain themselves, and one cannot help but sympathise with them, despite their compliance in the crime.

The three part documentary is well written and directed, with each episode covering a crucial part of the investigation and the aftermath of the findings of the same. The inclusion of the story of how one victim did not hold back in making a major fast food chain also hold accountability for what happened, also adds another important layer of dialogue surrounding the crime.

Verdict:

Don’t Pick Up The Phone is a well directed, sensitively handled documentary that gives a comprehensive insight into a heinous crime.