Helen Archer | On 12, Dec 2023



In October 2018, Grace Millane left her close-knit family in Essex to travel the world on a year-long overseas tour. Starting off in South America, she arrived in New Zealand on 18th November. But by the time of her 22nd birthday, on 2nd December, she had gone missing, the birthday messages from loved ones unanswered, their video calls going to voicemail. She had, it turned out, been murdered by a man she met on a dating app the night before – a man who remained anonymous during his arrest and trial, and who invoked the “rough sex” defence, leading to lurid headlines around the world and an outpouring of victim-blaming on social media in its wake.

Directed by Helena Coan, this feature-length documentary swerves the sensationalisation it obliquely critiques by telling Grace’s story in a sober, unembellished manner via CCTV footage, police interview tapes, and courtroom video – a corrective to the reporting of the time, making it very clear that Grace found herself in the grips of a predator named Jesse Kempson, a ticking time bomb of violent misogyny.

Remarkably clear CCTV follows the couple from their meeting place to the restaurant they went on their date, then to the bar where they stopped for drinks – where Kempson took the opportunity to look through Grace’s purse when she went to the toilet – before the pair entered the hotel where Kempson had lived for months. Grace wasn’t seen again, but Kempson went out early on the Sunday morning to purchase a suitcase, which he was later seen – again, on CCTV – taking downstairs to load into a rented car. He also managed to fit in another Tinder date before he disposed of Grace’s body. The woman he met describes their conversation, which seemed creepy to her at the time, and, in retrospect, even creepier.

The documentary also fills in some blanks from the earlier reporting. Much was made of why the accused was not named during his arrest and trial, the decision to keep his anonymity questioned. It was, it turned out, because he was also facing other charges in relation to his ex-girlfriend. His police interview tapes show him to be a controlled, if banal, liar; likewise, in court, he shows no emotion, staring impassively at the witness box as women who had the misfortune to encounter him describe their experiences at his hands. His defence lawyers are merciless as they call these women liars to their face, and attempt to undermine them in the most insidious of ways, re-traumatising the victims and re-victimising Grace’s family in the most repellant way.

It is sad that a documentary like this feels so necessary, in an effort to take back the narrative and clear the name of a murder victim who was so thoroughly smeared during court proceedings. Cox strips back Grace’s story to its bare essentials, focussing on Kempson’s murderous intent and his patterns of abuse towards women, which culminated in Grace’s murder. It is a no-bells-or-whistles documentary and all the better for it, ending with a list of names of the women who have likewise been subjected to the “rough sex” defence – which in many cases succeeded in getting the perpetrator lesser sentences, or even acquittals. It quietly yet effectively shames those who would blame victims for their own murders.

 

The Murder of Grace Millane is available on Sky Crime. Don’t have Sky? You can also stream it on NOW, for £9.99 a month with no contract. For the latest Sky TV packages and prices, click the button below.

 

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