Chaos: The Manson Murders (2025) review

Reporter Tom O'Neill sits with documentarian Morris to talk about his 2019 book pertaining to the Manson Family and the Tate-LaBianca murders and floats his theory that a psychiatrist named Dr. Louis "Jolly" West, who worked for the CIA and experimented with mind control (using LSD), helped influence Charlie's "persuasive" tactics - to get other perspectives, Morris also speaks with prosecutor Stephen Kay and Manson associate Bobby Beausoleil.  Morris' technique, with the frequent abuse of split screen and animated text, is a little distracting, and it goes so far down a deep conspiratorial hole (which naturally involves government agencies and their super top secret programs) Oliver Stone might be impressed, but I found it to be engaging, mostly because the story remains so evil and strange: the Manson girls, with their incessant giggling and ashen faces, remain an ominous portrait of youth-gone-bonkers (and infected with venereal diseases).  I can't believe I'm saying this, but to me Beausoleil's statements make the most logical sense: the cult was on acid, Manson was paranoid and his "associates" were meant to take out music producer Terry Melcher (and made a mistake).  Of course, interpretations will vary, etc.