The Case Against Adnan Syed

The Case proves especially adept at shifting moods, from the emotional excess of adolescence to the muted tension and fear that snakes through every appearance of courtroom footage. In doing so, director Amy Berg creates not only a portrait of Hae Min Lee but of the people, city, and cultural intersections that shaped both her life and afterlife. This docuseries has a sprawling cast of people, each providing further shading of the emotional and personal truths they carry due to the devastation of this case.

The HBO version’s ambitious, complex and deeply detailed narrative delivers dimension to this story of doomed romance, clashing cultural, and dubious justice as only film can.

It probably won't generate its own obsession, and the chapter in the case is, through its first three hours, less compulsively devourable, but Berg's series has an approach to the story that's distinctive and satisfying in its own right.

Although it starts a little bit rocky and unfocused, The Case Against Adnan Syed eventually does an admirable job of focusing--doubters might say shaping--the various stories into something plausible. It seems silly to hope for a huge revelation in its final hour, but with such a fascinating case, it would be even sillier to doubt that another unexpected twist might arise.

It is, for the most part, an engrossing account, although the filmmakers employ one extremely questionable device to help illustrate what had only been heard, not seen, using animation as a visual aid during voiceover excerpts read from murder victim Hae Min Lee's diary.

[The Case Against Adnan Syed] is both a lucid primer on its notorious mystery, and a follow-up marked by intriguing new details that amplify uncertainty about its subject’s culpability.

The series take its time establishing who [Hae Min Lee] was, and the deep loss felt by her community after her murder. Otherwise, things move fast. Avid listeners of “Serial” may find that even they have to pay close attention in order to keep up.

While Serial kept listeners on tenterhooks from week to week, The Case Against Adnan Syed is a more granular and less wholly absorbing experience. Berg’s series is most riveting, and sad, when she puts the specifics of the case aside to focus on the people whose lives have been irrevocably damaged by Lee’s murder and its aftermath.

The Case Against Adnan Syed may present more facts, but it has less to offer in the way of deeper, broader truth.

It is skilfully created, and mostly empathetically told by the director Amy Berg. And yet it’s still uncomfortable to watch.

If this documentary added anything substantially new to the conversation that Serial began in 2014, its efforts might feel more worthwhile. Instead, in its determination to uncritically embrace the narrative Serial created, it accomplishes the opposite of its aim to show that Syed was wrongfully convicted.

The Case Against Adnan Syed, at least in the first three hours, isn't a groundbreaking docuseries nor will it lead to another frenzy of obsessives. It's mostly just a well-done addendum to a well-known story: a few extra notes, a new theory here or there, an interesting visit or phone call that quickly gets dropped.

Yes, for fans of true crime series, Berg’s documentary is a riveting exploration of the foibles of the justice system, especially when it comes to dealing with minority kids in a Baltimore suburb. For listeners of Serial, it’s literally an eye-opening experience. ... But whether or not that’s enough to warrant another look into a case that may ultimately be unsolvable, and one where potential rectification for Adnan is already working its way through the legal system, is less certain.

Comprehensive yet still incomplete, “The Case” gets entangled in the underbrush and can’t quite seem to find its way to either a conclusion or the truth.