From April to June 2022, the defamation trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard was in its heyday. With a bit of shame, I admit I followed along, watching hour upon hour of trial footage as the two and their respective witnesses worked to tear each other apart. Now Netflix gives us a three-part summation, showing a sped-up version of the trial as well as the mind-boggling media coverage around it.
Thanks to YouTube, TikTok, and countless other social media sites, the trial quickly divided its followers into two camps. Favor was heavily weighted toward Depp, who had legions of fans camped outside of the courtroom hoping to gain a coveted spot inside. Heard was seen as a villain, not a victim, and was met daily with jeers and insults. Watching the testimony clipped together side by side paints the picture of a very dysfunctional relationship and a difficult dissolution of a marriage. While Depp wins the trial, neither party comes out of Depp v. Heard looking like a winner.
If you’re craving a bit of popcorn courtroom theater, this three-part series will feed your need to indulge in other people’s problems for a while. (three approx. 50-min. episodes)
—Anna Starkey
