Max's latest true crime docuseries might end up being the talk of 2024, as one woman travels through the horrific past of her step-grandfather to determine whether or not he was the serial killer responsible for horrific crimes. The Truth About Jim isn't just going to be one of the best true crime shows you can stream, it's also a story about a family healing from the trauma they endured at the hands of a monster. CinemaBlend had a chance to speak to Sierra Barter about that experience and learned how filming the docuseries inspired a huge change in her grandmother.
I had a chance to watch the show ahead of its official release, and subject Sierra Barter and director Skye Borgman were gracious enough to talk about the story behind constructing The Truth About Jim. The docuseries reveals a number of horrors Jim Mordecai subjected his various families to in his life, so it's understandable that revisiting that trauma for a series would be difficult. I asked Barter if it was difficult to draw information out of her relatives when conducting interviews for the series, and learned about the initial struggles they had getting her grandmother to open up. Barter said:
My mom, she'll talk. That lady can talk! But my grandma, I think she had a way of coping with him, which was, I think, kind of putting it [away] and suppressing it, not thinking about it. So it was really a lot of, and I think Sky can speak to this, was making sure that she was feeling incredibly secure and safe. That there was no harm that was gonna happen, that nobody was judging her to get her to get her to come up with these things that she had to put away so that she could get up every day and keep going.
Viewers will learn that Jim Mordecai could be considered a dangerous and unpredictable person, and as a result, Sierra Barter's grandmother, Judy, learned to adapt to keep him from becoming upset. Apparently, that carried over to the point that, even after his death, it was a challenge initially to get her to open up.
As viewers tune in to The Truth About Jim with their Max subscription, they'll hear stories about how Jim Mordecai terrorized his families and others over the years and hear stories from Sierra Barter's grandmother about their marriage. Director Skye Borgman witnessed a change in the woman as they filmed, and detailed it to me during our interview:
I think (Judy) made incredible (progress). She changed in the time that we were filming with her. Like, I think she kind of realized how empowering it can be to talk about things in a, in a more public way. And I saw such a different woman from the beginning to the end when you were talking to her.
This four-part docuseries, The Truth About Jim, draws connections between the horrific acts committed by Jim Mordecai throughout his life and how they mirror crimes committed by serial killers in Northern California that remain unsolved today. There's even a possibility Mordecai has ties to the Zodiac Killer, an immensely popular subject in the true crime genre. Past series like Zodiac have suspected different people, and Mark Ruffalo even reacted when authorities thought they identified the serial killer a few years back. With the mystery still unsolved, a new subject like Mordecai opens up a new potential suspect worthy of evaluation when it comes to these crimes:
While the 2024 TV schedule is loaded with great shows worth noting, few so far have gripped me in the way that The Truth About Jim has. That may be thanks in part to director Skye Borgman, who has directed episodes of another beloved true crime series, Unsolved Mysteries. For those as excited as I am that Volume 4 is coming to Netflix later this year, this latest Max series should be a great distraction until its return.
Stream The Truth About Jim in its entirety over on Max beginning on Thursday, February 15th. After running through the series, be sure to check back with CinemaBlend for more about this horrifying story and the latest on what's happening after its release.
