Netflix’s Latest ‘Untold’ Documentary Divides Opinion!

The latest addition to Netflix’s ‘Untold’ series dropped on April 21^st: The Shooting at Hawthorne Hill.

Its title may sound like an Agatha Christie novel, but it is a rather bizarre attempted murder case concerning the equestrian community. However, much like a Christie novel, it is difficult to discern who the true culprit really is.

The case revolves around Michael Barisone, a former US Olympian (for dressage) turned trainer, who takes on an equestrian student by the name of Lauren Kanarek. Both tell their sides of the story in the documentary. Their constant commentary keeps the documentary engaging, but makes the actual timeline of events confusing, to say the least!

Essentially, Kanarek (and her boyfriend) came to live on Barisone’s property in order to be trained by him in 2018. This arrangement is not unusual in the equestrian world; however, the pair’s relationship began to erode when Kanarek started to demand more personal time being trained by Barisone as opposed to his assistants. Kanarek aired her frustrations in a very long series of cryptic Facebook posts allegedly aimed at Barisone.

The pair’s relationship soured so much that Barisone tried to unsuccessfully evict Kanarek from his property. Several calls were made to the police by Barisone regarding Kanarek’s alleged campaign of abuse. The police could not intervene as it was a civil matter. Barisone accused Kanarek of ‘bugging’ and circling the property at night “dressed as a ninja”. Kanarek even called CPS with an allegation of child abuse regarding Barisone’s then-partner’s children, who lived with him and their mother.

One clear fact of this escalation remains unequivocally true. On August 7^th 2019, Michael Barisone took a borrowed handgun and shot Kanarek. Luckily, after emergency surgery, Kanarek’s life was saved.

Open and shut case, right? Barisone was literally caught with the gun.

Well, not exactly. The second half of the documentary focuses on the spectacle of the trial. Barisone pleaded insanity at the time of the crime. Despite what films and TV would have you believe, pleading insanity in criminal trials very rarely works, as it is very difficult to prove. As the documentary points out, it didn’t work in famous cases like Dahmer.

Some have accused Barisone of ‘putting on a show’ and ‘acting crazy’ during the trial. And he does make a sad sight behind the bulletproof glass of the defense’s table. The long-haired, twitching, exhausted-looking man is quite different from the well-groomed, articulate individual we meet at the start of the documentary. Kanarek herself claims that too much is made of her mass of social media posts, she even laughs when the defense tries to read into a post in which she says she was quoting the lyrics to ‘This Is Me’ from The Greatest Showman.

The tension builds to the reading of the verdict. Will you agree with the jury? Many netizens are asking are you Team Barisone or Team Kanarek?

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