What Jennifer Did – Netflix Review (3/5)

WHAT JENNIFER DID on Netflix is a new true crime documentary about a 2010 home invasion murder. The person at the center is Jennifer Pan and the title reveals her guilt. Read our What Jennifer Did documentary review here!

WHAT JENNIFER DID is a new Netflix true crime documentary. It comes from a documentary filmmaker that I’m quite partial to as I loved her previous documentary feature. Unfortunately, this one doesn’t come close to reaching the same level for me.

The runtime is just around 90 minutes, which is good, but I felt like it could have been shorter. Maybe that’s just because I wasn’t crazy about the style. I do readily admit that the case itself is fascinating enough to be the subject of a documentary. Then again, what murder case isn’t to some extent?!

Continue reading our What Jennifer Did documentary review below. On Netflix from April 10, 2024.

What did Jennifer do?

With the title “What Jennifer Did”, it’s already revealed that Jennifer is guilty of something. When watching this documentary, we’re just waiting to find out what that “thing” is. And while I recognize that true crime documentaries are spoiler-filled by covering known cases, I was not familiar with this one.

It was a murder and attempted murder that happened during a home invasion. It happened in a quiet Canadian town in 2010. Three mysterious intruders break into the home of Vietnamese immigrants, where they appear to be looking for money.

They shoot the mother and father of the household but leave a traumatized daughter as the only witness. Right there red flags are already waving as it makes no sense to leave behind a witness.

On the night of November 8, 2010, a frantic 911 call went out from the Pan family home in Ontario, Canada. Jennifer Pan pleads with the dispatcher to send help. At one point, you can even hear her father, Huei Hann Pan, in the background.

He has been shot but needs medical care urgently. Her mother, Bich Ha, died instantly. Following the initial assumption that the Pans were victims of a deadly home invasion, it becomes clear that Jennifer Pan knows more about what happened that night.

Facts over testimony from “those involved”, please

For this 2024 Netflix true crime documentary, police interrogation footage is used, which I always prefer to “after-the-fact” interviews. We get both in What Jennifer Did, and I do not need to hear detectives explain that Jennifer Pan did “the most evil thing imaginable”.

While the murder of anyone is obviously among the very worst things anyone could do, I would imagine detectives come across many other evil things. When hearing the whole Jennifer Pan case, it’s hardly unimaginable that things could escalate in this fatal direction.

Brutal, terrible, and unforgivable, yes. But “unimaginable”? Not particularly.

I mean, if you work in homicide then surely murder isn’t all that unimaginable. I’m nitpicking of course. Still, it’s precisely these comments that I would rather be without.

Also, the fact that some interrogation footage is blurred is a real shame. Especially as most interviews are very clear. Only the climactic interview where everything is revealed seems to be blurred. It was borderline headache-inducing to try and make out any kind of facial expressions.

I couldn’t even actually make out that it was Jennifer Pan in the footage.

Watch What Jennifer Did on Netflix now!

This new Netflix documentary comes from director Jenny Popplewell. She also made the brilliant  American Murder: The Family Next Door (2020) which is one of my all-time favorite true crime documentaries. It used only footage from the police or media at the time of the crime.

Not interviews with people after the fact, where they can conclude all kinds of interesting things in hindsight. Everyone always moves on from “he was such a nice guy” or “she was just a sweet girl” once they realize the crime the person committed.

I would rather have their initial perception than the one tainted by new information. That’s why I prefer the style of American Murder: The Family Next Door and the very recent The Lie: The Murder of Grace Millane. Still, this Jennifer Pan case is interesting, so if you enjoy true crime, you should check it out.

What Jennifer Did premieres on Netflix on April 10, 2024.