Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich (2020)

Click here for a video version: https://youtu.be/pBzcOAn4RMw

Jeffrey Epstein was a name on everyone’s lips a while back, but as often happens with the media, once they have milked it for everything they can, they move on to the next cycle of the outrage machine. Often lost in the cries of “Epstein didn’t kill himself” and the celebrity and politician filled parties on his private island, is that this guy was a serial rapist of young women and girls. The Netflix documentary _Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich_ puts these victims front and centre. 

This is pretty tough to watch as the women share their stories and open up about what was done to them. They explain in detail how Epstein and his partner Ghislaine Maxwell took advantage of and exploited the women when they were, in some cases, as young as 14. They also highlight how it wasn’t just Maxwell procuring girls, they actually set up something like a pyramid scheme where girls that they abused were asked to recruit their friends to come to the house too and make some money. The series doesn’t shy away from how there was a circle of women around Epstein who would recruit yet more victims. 

The accounts of the victims forms one part of the narrative, the other storyline is the investigation done by the police, both at a local and higher level. It’s a fascinating insight into how they knew something was going on and they put a lot of resources into it, but they got stonewalled at every turn. Somehow Epstein stayed one step ahead while still engaging in these activities and expanding operations to include trafficking.

At times it does a good job throughout of leaving some questions hanging, especially with regards to the the so-called “sweetheart deal” that Epstein got in 2008. But at other times, I felt like the didn’t go hard enough such as when the coroner was talking about the broken bones in Epstein’s neck. 

If you're looking for an expose of Epstein's connections with the celebrity and political worlds, or a dive into the circumstances of his death, this is not it. This is very much the story of the abuses and the trail of destruction this wreaked on the lives of his victims, backgrounded by the story of the police and lawyers trying to bring Epstein to justice. 

I think that this focus on the victims is important because often the stories about Epstein revolve around his island and his high profile connections. His string of victims - and there were many - are often glossed over. This puts them front and center.