By Molly Laich
Missoula Independent
In 2009, serial killer Anthony Edward Sowell was finally arrested on rape, kidnapping and murder charges after 11 unidentified bodies were found in his decrepit home in Cleveland's Mount Pleasant neighborhood. Rather than dwelling on Sowell, Laura Paglin's film instead focuses on interviews with his victims, all of them poor, black women who were lured in with promises of drugs. For two years, women went missing while the neighborhood smelled of a suspicious rot. More than one woman escaped from Sowell's home, and either didn't press charges or found themselves disbelieved. Why wasn't anything done? Through candid interviews and images of the impoverished Mount Pleasant community, Unseen acts as a haunting indictment of a police force that failed its citizens.
Screens at the Roxy Sat., Feb. 18, at 7:30 PM.