Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Girl in the Picture’ on Netflix, a Shocking True Crime Documentary With Stranger-Than-Fiction Twists

Netflix’s endless supply of true-crime documentaries flows on with Girl in the Picture, the twisty and upsetting saga of a woman’s unsolved death. Veteran documentary filmmaker Skye Borgman pieces together a story rife with horrible malfeasance: robbery, kidnapping, pedophilia, rape, murder, exploitation. It’s not for the weak of heart, but it ultimately does right by its subject.

GIRL IN THE PICTURE: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: In April 1990, passersby found a woman lying by the side of the road in Oklahoma City. She was taken to the hospital, where she eventually succumbed to her injuries. Tonya Hughes was the name carved on her tombstone, but that’s not who she was – contrary to the claims of the man who said he was her husband and mother to their son Michael. The boy subsequently ended up in a foster home. A paternity test revealed that the man was not his biological father, but that didn’t stop him from abducting Michael from school in 1994, holding the principal at gunpoint and leaving him gagged and tied to a tree. It soon became prevalent that this man had a criminal record. Had multiple aliases. Had been a fugitive for the previous 17 years.

But this movie is not his story. It’s Tonya’s – or the woman who was known as Tonya for decades after her untimely and tragic death. She was 20 when she died, and had worked as a stripper in Tampa and Tulsa; her friends/co-workers testify to her dedication to young Michael, who she loved dearly. She went to high school in Georgia, where she was known as Sharon Marshall. Her friends from school describe her as strikingly beautiful and exceptionally smart – she was accepted to Georgia Tech’s aeronautical engineering school. But her father? They describe him as “weird” and “strict.” Her close friend Jenny Fisher has an awful, awful story about that. Awful.

These are some of many, many details about Tonya/Sharon’s tragic life, which required a bevy of people to piece together from beginning to end, including detectives, FBI agents, journalists, friends, associates and family members. Authorities would eventually catch up with the aforementioned serial felon, who was arrested while alone, with no trace of young Michael. But two questions remained: What was Tonya/Sharon’s true identity? And what happened to the boy?

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Borgman’s true crime pedigree also includes Netflix docs Dead Asleep and Abducted in Plain Sight, as well as Murdered and Missing in Montana, The Case Died With Her and an episode of Unsolved Mysteries.

Performance Worth Watching: Two key voices here: Jenny Fisher gives the bravest testimonial on the hard truths of her friend’s life, and FBI agent Joe Fitzpatrick remained a dogged supporter of the investigation even after his retirement.

Memorable Dialogue: One of the first among many lurid twists in the story: “And that’s when we found out her name wasn’t her name.”

Sex and Skin: None, but the film features verbal descriptions of rape, incest and child pornography.

Our Take: Initially, Girl in the Picture plays like another sordid, borderline-exploitational documentary: maudlin music, slo-mo melodramatics, fuzzy reenactments, red-light-district B-roll, dishy talking-head interviews. But astonishing things happen as more details about Tonya/Sharon come into focus – the voices in the story become more credible, the veracity of the situation becomes grave and wrenching, and our hearts slowly break. The story has more shocking twists than most crime fiction.

It’s a tough, tough watch, rendered with terrific clarity by Borgman. And, more crucially, great purpose – too many true-crime docs are slackjawed gapes into the depths of depraved humanity, or pointless attempts to psychoanalyze the minds of killers. Those films make us feel grimy, disturbed, maybe even hopeless.

Only deep into Girl in the Picture do we get a brief glimpse at what turned a man into a sociopath (we eventually learn the perpetrator of many crimes in this story is Franklin Floyd, currently on death row for murder), because the greater emphasis here is paying tribute to the woman he spent years physically and mentally torturing, and acknowledging the efforts of many people who worked diligently for years to uncover her real name and the fate of her son. Her story deserves to be told, especially the parts of it where she’s described as a wonderful friend and mother, a good and hopeful person. Her identity is the one that matters. One person in this story used his suffering to justify inflicting suffering on others, but another chose to put a little love into the world despite the horrors she endured.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Girl in the Picture starts off like so many other true-crime stories of its ilk, but soon finds its moral footing and lands in a more moving, profound place.

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Read more of his work at johnserbaatlarge.com.

Stream Girl in the Picture on Netflix