Victim/Suspect

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Victim/Suspect

R

2023

1h 30m

Documentary

Crime

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

79%

Tomatometer

34 Reviews

74%

Popcornmeter

50+ Ratings

On her first solo investigation, journalist Rae de Leon travels nationwide to uncover a shocking pattern: Young women tell the police they've been sexually assaulted, but instead of finding justice, they're charged with the crime of making a false report, arrested, and even imprisoned by the system they believed would protect them.

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Critics Consensus

Although it's arguably not quite the documentary its subject deserves, Victim/Suspect remains an important and infuriating piece of journalism.

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Nick Allen

RogerEbert.com

May 24, 2023

2.5/4

A document of superb journalism but is unfortunately told in a sludgy, distracting fashion.

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Natalia Winkelman

New York Times

May 24, 2023

The film, which examines cases in which sexual assault survivors are charged with false reporting, is the rare entry whose revelations feel cogent, earned and memorable.

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Nick Schager

The Daily Beast

May 23, 2023

A film about a police culture that doesn’t seem to take rape charges seriously—or, at the very least, doesn’t think that thoroughly examining accusations is worth the hassle when intimidation and humiliation will facilitate their jobs.

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Anna Menta

Decider

Jan 19, 2024

Victim/Suspect is a must-watch because it demonstrates the deterrents to rape victims coming forward are far more dire than most of us realized.

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Eileen G'Sell

Hyperallergic

Jun 26, 2023

"Victim/Suspect" exposes the extent to which women, conditioned to apologize for any inconvenience, are vulnerable to pressures to take the blame, and even serve time, for their own violent rapes.

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Glenn Dunks

The Film Experience

Jun 26, 2023

Schwartzman is never able to put any sort of authorial stamp on the material. Like many Netflix productions, cinematography is uninteresting and the editing rather pedestrian.

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Kristi C

@KristiL Oct 9, 2026

If you are wondering why the material in this documentary feels slimy and incomplete, it's because it is. As a fellow woman and assault survivor, I did some research into these women on my own and discovered so much more evidence to suggest that some of them were in fact fabricating their stories much more than the documentary would want you to believe. The documentary 'conveniently' omits facts like the main girl going into great detail to police on why she lied (emotional difficulties), how she lied (apps she used to fabricate texts to herself) and more. 'Believe all women' IS a dangerous sentiment. False accusations SHOULD be prosecuted. These fabricators ARE taking resources away from actual victims in need of police help. The only victims here are those that waste their time watching this rubbish that is intentionally misleading for the purpose of causing outrage.

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diogo13 T

@Tua_mera Jul 16, 2026

A única vitima foi eu.

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Lori F

@LFalgoo May 2, 2026

Gripping, powerful and gut-wrenching. A must-watch documentary that will sit with me for days.

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Toni P

@TeePringles Jan 17, 2026

Eye Opening I hope everyone watches this and it promotes changes in law enforcement.

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Di G

@Havok247 Mar 24, 2025

Nikki Yovino is a proven liar, and should have been sent to prison for much longer than one year for her evil and despicable actions! I hope the civil lawsuit takes every penny she ever earns in life.

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David P

@RT11135150 Nov 27, 2024

Excellent job with a very difficult subject. To me the most shocking thing about this problem is that these cops still have jobs.

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Nancy Schwartzman

Director

Rae De Leon

Self

Amanda Pike

Self

Christopher Clements

Producer

Rachel De Leon

Producer

Julie Goldman

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Synopsis

On her first solo investigation, journalist Rae de Leon travels nationwide to uncover a shocking pattern: Young women tell the police they've been sexually assaulted, but instead of finding justice, they're charged with the crime of making a false report, arrested, and even imprisoned by the system they believed would protect them.

Director: Nancy Schwartzman
Producer: Christopher Clements, Rachel De Leon, Julie Goldman, Alice Henty, Amanda Pike, Nancy Schwartzman
Distributor: Netflix
Production Co: Center for Investigative Reporting Studios, Motto Pictures
Rating: R (Some Language)
Genre: Documentary, Crime
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 23, 2023, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): May 23, 2023
Runtime: 1h 30m

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