Skillful, complex, and purposely understated, The Witness succeeds not just as a re-examination of one of the most talked-about crimes in modern memory, but as a very touching, human tale of a brother trying to get to know the sister he lost too soon.

For years, the legend of the 38 witnesses has been held up as an example of apathy and disconnect, but The Witness proves that the fabric of humanity is actually so strong, that our ties can endure for decades after our deaths.

By the time [Bill Genovese] hires an actress to walk the same stretch of street in Kew Gardens that Kitty walked that night in 1964, having her scream and wail down footpaths and inside stairwells, I was unsettled. But not in a particularly good way.