Amanda Knox blasts film Stillwater for exploiting her case

30 July 2021, 17:14

Amanda Knox
Film-Stillwater-Amanda Knox. Picture: PA

Ms Knox was the subject of worldwide headlines after the murder in Perugia, Italy, of British student Meredith Kercher in 2007.

Amanda Knox has spoken out about her name being associated with the new film Stillwater, saying that any connection ripped off “my story without my consent at the expense of my reputation”.

Stillwater stars Matt Damon as a father who flies to France to help his estranged daughter, Allison, played by Abigail Breslin. She has been convicted and imprisoned for murdering her girlfriend in Marseille, in a case that has generated lurid headlines.

Ms Knox is never named on screen, but in interviews the filmmakers have noted her sensational case was an initial jumping off point for the script.

In tweets and an essay on the site Medium, Ms Knox called out various publications and director Tom McCarthy for using her name to promote the film.

She wrote that his “fictionalised version of me is just the tabloid conspiracy guiltier version of me”.

“Does my name belong to me? Does my face? What about my life? My story? Why is my name used to refer to events I had no hand in? I return to these questions because others continue to profit off my name, face, and story without my consent,” she wrote.

Ms Knox was the subject of worldwide headlines after the murder in Perugia, Italy, of British student Meredith Kercher in 2007.

Ms Knox and Ms Knox’s then-boyfriend were placed under suspicion.

Both were initially convicted, but after a series of flip-flop decisions, Italy’s highest court threw out the convictions in 2015.

An unrelated man is serving a 16-year sentence for the murder.

Abigail Breslin, left, and Matt Damon in a scene from Stillwater
Abigail Breslin, left, and Matt Damon in a scene from Stillwater (Jessica Forde/Focus Features via AP)

“By fictionalising away my innocence, my total lack of involvement, by erasing the role of the authorities in my wrongful conviction, Mr McCarthy reinforces an image of me as a guilty and untrustworthy person,” Ms Knox wrote.

At the Cannes Film Festival earlier this month, where Stillwater was screened, Mr McCarthy said Ms Knox’s case served as an “initial inspiration point but not much beyond that. I just had a daughter then and I thought how it would be like”.

In a later interview, Mr McCarthy said he “didn’t want to kind of copy or mimic” Ms Knox’s legal ordeal.

“It’s loosely inspired by that case, so I didn’t want to try and do a recreation of that. I want Allison to kind of be her own standalone character, but it was definitely great to have that for a reference.”

Many reviews and feature stories about Stillwater have mentioned MS Knox as an inspiration for the plot.

The film opens on Friday.

By Press Association

Latest World News

See more Latest World News

Simone White has died following a poisoning with alcoholic drinks at a bar in Loas

British lawyer, 28, dies following suspected mass methanol poisoning at bar in Laos

'But where are the hams?': Police launch manhunt after thieves steal €200,000 of prized Christmas meat

Police hunt Spanish hamburglars after thieves steal €200,000 of prized Christmas meat

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a speech during a ceremony marking the Hebrew calendar anniversary of the Hamas attack on October 7 last year

Arrest warrants issued for Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu, former defence minister and Hamas chief over 'war crimes'

Kyiv says Russia has fired an intercontinental ballistic missile in an attack on Ukraine

Russia's revenge: Moscow 'launches intercontinental ballistic missile’ in attack on Ukraine

(L) British lawyer Simone White, 28, is seriously ill in hospital. (R) Bianca Jones, 19, has become the fourth person to die after consuming alleged 'methanol-laced' drinks in Vang Vieng, Laos

London lawyer fights for her life and Australian backpacker dies after drinking 'methanol-laced' shots from bar in Laos

Russia is threatening to use new missiles in Ukraine after US and UK rockets were used in their territory

Putin 'to retaliate with new Frontier missiles in Ukraine' after US and UK give green light to fire rockets in Russia

The tourist died in the Patong are of Phuket.

British tourist found dead in Phuket storm drain after going missing on night out

Marcus Fakana, 18, is facing 20-years behind bars.

Brit teenager, 18, facing 20-year jail sentence for 'holiday romance' with 17-year-old girl in Dubai

Simone White, Holly Bowles, Bianca Jones

British tourists 'in hospital with methanol poisoning' after drinking toxic shots in Laos holiday spot

New York priest sacked after allowing Sabrina Carpenter to film racy music video in his church

New York priest sacked after allowing Sabrina Carpenter to film racy music video in church

The US embassy in Kyiv closed over fears of a 'significant air attack'

US embassy in Kyiv closes over 'significant air attack' threat as Biden approves anti-personnel mines for Ukraine

Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal retires from tennis, as Spain defeat in Davis Cup brings curtain down on glittering career

Welcome to the Gemini era by Google

Google's AI chatbot Gemini tells user to 'please die' and 'you are a burden on society' in shock response

The C-Lion1 submarine telecommunications cable being laid to the bottom of the Baltic Sea by cable laying ship "Ile de Brehat" off the shore of Helsinki, Finland, in October 2015

Two undersea internet cables severed amid fears of Russian sabotage

Marius Borg Høiby with his mother Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit

Son of Norwegian princess Marius Borg Høiby arrested on suspicion of rape

Sweden's Minister for Civil Defence Carl-Oskar Bohlin presents new version of preparedness booklet "If the crisis or war comes"

Sweden issues pamphlet telling citizens how to prepare for potential war as WWIII fears grow