Trailer
Plot summary
In Mexico, police arrest Christian Longo, wanted in Oregon over the deaths of his wife and three children; he has been living under the name of a New York Times reporter, Michael Finkel. In New York, Finkel's career has collapsed over a cover story built on a composite character, and his editors have dismissed him. A reporter from The Oregonian asks Finkel about Longo's use of his name. Intrigued, Finkel arranges a visit to the prison where Longo is held. Longo says he has followed Finkel's work and proposes to describe the killings he is charged with in return for writing lessons and silence about their talks until the trial concludes. Finkel, hoping the story will restore him, begins months of visits and letters.
Cast
- Conor Kikotas Zach Longo
- Stella Rae Payneas Madison Longo
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about True Story (2015)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Christian Longo, the man at the center of the story, landed on the FBI's most-wanted list accused of murdering his wife and three children in Oregon, and hid in Mexico using the identity of the journalist Michael Finkel.
- The madrigal Jill plays for Longo in prison, "Se la mia morte brami", is by the Italian Renaissance composer Carlo Gesualdo; she cannot hear its beauty, she explains, without remembering that Gesualdo murdered his wife, her lover and their child.
SPOILER
A year after the trial the real Christian Longo admitted that he had in fact killed his entire family, and he and Michael Finkel still speak by telephone on the first Sunday of every month.
