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HBO's 'I Love You, Now Die' Explores the Case Against Michelle Carter

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Editor's Note

If you experience suicidal thoughts or have lost someone to suicide, the following post could be potentially triggering. You can contact the Crisis Text Line by texting “START” to 741741.

Update: The first part of HBO’s two-part documentary, “I Love You, Now Die: The Commonwealth v. Michelle Carter,” will air Tuesday, July 9 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. HBO also released a new trailer for the film, which you can watch here.

This summer, HBO will release a two-part documentary called, “I Love You, Now Die: The Commonwealth v. Michelle Carter.” The documentary examines the case against Michelle Carter who urged her boyfriend Carter Roy III to die by suicide via text message in 2014.

Carter was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in June 2017. She received a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence for her role in Roy’s death, with 15 months to be served and the remainder suspended, followed by a period of five years of supervised probation. Her conviction was upheld on Feb. 6 and Carter was taken into custody to begin serving her sentence on Feb. 11.

A $4.2 million wrongful death civil suit was brought against Carter by Roy’s mother Lynn Roy and dismissed “with prejudice” on April 9, meaning she cannot sue again for the same claim.

“I Love You, Now Die,” will explore technology, mental health and whether or not a person can be held responsible for the suicide of another person. The documentary, which will focus on Carter and Roy’s relationship and likely the motivation behind the actions Carter took, asks, “is [urging someone to die by suicide through text messages] criminal?” The story of Roy’s tragic death and the case that followed has “wider implications for society at large, online and in real life,” according to HBO.

The documentary debuted at SXSW on March 9 and will be screened at the Montclair Film Festival on May 11. It is slated to be released this summer on HBO. The Mighty reached out to HBO for an exact release date and has yet to hear back.

If you are struggling with suicidal ideation or are a suicide loss survivor, the trailer may be potentially triggering, as it contains actual text messages exchanged between Carter and Roy. It’s more than OK to skip watching the trailer and documentary if you find it’s emotionally distressing to you. You can view the trailer here.

Header image via HBO/”I Love You, Now Die”

Originally published: April 25, 2019
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