After I first heard that Netflix was making a docuseries about Gabby Petito, the 22-year-old journey vlogger killed by her fiance in August 2021, I knew that the true crime sequence can be stuffed with traumatic, hard-to-watch, and gut-wrenching moments. I used to be ready for a few of these moments in American Homicide: Gabby Petito greater than others, however there was one side of the 2025 Netflix authentic sequence that I haven’t been capable of cease fascinated about since ending it with my Netflix subscription.
No, it’s not the police bodycam footage of Petito and her fiance, Brian Laundrie, being questioned in Moab, Utah, roughly two weeks earlier than she was killed in Bridger–Teton Nationwide Forest, Wyoming. No, it’s not the aftermath of her dying. And it’s not all of the tales informed by way of the three-episode sequence. As an alternative, it’s how the documentary recreated her voice to learn outdated journal entries from her life on the highway.
Let me clarify…
The Three-Half Docuseries Does not Shy Away From Disturbing Moments
Cut up up into three episodes, American Homicide: Gabby Petito goes into nice element about Petito’s life, every little thing that led to her ill-fated cross-country highway journey, and the more and more stunning sequence of occasions that adopted her disappearance and dying. Contemplating that is Netflix, the docuseries doesn’t draw back from chronicling these disturbing moments in nice element.
Crime scene photographs, police physique cam footage, tales and photos of home abuse, and graphic descriptions of how Petito was killed are all featured all through the sequence. There have been tales that shook me to my core, left me feeling helpless, and adjusted the way in which I considered the entire case. However, these don’t even come shut to 1 choice made by the filmmakers that I simply don’t perceive.
However The A.I.-Generated Gabby Petito Voice Was Actually Unsettling
Not lengthy into the primary episode, I heard a voice that sounded similar to the late journey vlogger and homicide sufferer, however one thing felt off. Yeah, the voice studying Petito’s journal entries and textual content messages sounded much like her, however got here off somewhat indifferent, as if it wasn’t Petito studying her personal phrases. Effectively, it seems it wasn’t her, and even an actress employed to learn her phrases (I’ll Be Gone within the Darkish took this route by having Amy Ryan stand in for the late Michelle McNamara).
When chatting with Us Weekly in February 2025, filmmakers Julia Willoughby Nason and Michael Gasparro revealed that they introduced these journal entries and texts to life by utilizing A.I. know-how to recreate Petito’s voice. The pair even informed the outlet they’d reached out to Petito’s household and had obtained permission to make use of the instrument to inform her story.
Whereas I’m glad to listen to that the household was on board with the inclusion of the computer-generated voice, it doesn’t make the entire thing any much less unsettling. I perceive that A.I. tech is right here and that we should always use it for our profit, however on this case, it feels mistaken, pointless, and type of gross.
Although the A.I. voice wasn’t sufficient to smash American Homicide: Gabby Petito and drive me to show it off (I watched it in a single sitting), it left me with a sense that I haven’t been capable of shake.