Detecting deception in movies.
SPOILER ALERT - If you haven't seen the movie Reptile, you may not want to read this.
Netflix is showing the movie Reptile. It stars Benicio Del Toro, Justin Timberlake and Alicia Silverstone. It is about a female real estate agent who is murdered in an empty house she was selling. She was found by her boyfriend played by Justin Timberlake. The boyfriend described to the police what happened.
"I walked in the front door and stopped right where you are. I noticed her shoes right here. Um, so, I ah, I called out for her. No response. I try her phone, nothing. I ah, I kneeled down to try to give her CPR."
Two times he used the interjections um and ah. These pauses indicate his statement may not be coming from memory. When a story comes from memory, it should flow smoothly as the person recalls what they experienced. We do have to take into consideration if the event was traumatic. This may cause the person to have a harder time in telling what happened.
When giving a statement, people should generally be telling us what happened. They should not be stating why something happened. We see this when he used the word so. This indicates sensitivity within the statement.
When describing a past event, people should be using past tense language. Provided the person has a command of the English language, this will automatically happen when the story is coming from memory. The boyfriend said, "I try her phone." He should have used the past tense verb tried.
He said, "I kneeled down to try to give her CPR." In Statement Analysis, we believe what people tell us. This helps us to see what the subject is saying or not saying. I believe he "kneeled down." I believe the reason he kneeled down was to "try to give her CPR." Notice he didn't say he gave her CPR or attempted to give her CPR. That is what he wants us to believe. He didn't say, "I knelt down and gave her CPR."
It turned out the boyfriend was in on his girlfriend's murder. You can sometimes watch a fictional movie and quickly figure out who did by listening to how people phrase their statement or by how people answer a question. This is because the show's writers know who is lying and who is telling the truth. Without knowing it, they will have the actors who are lying lie just like most deceptive will lie.