Victim/Suspect

In the gripping drama Victim/Suspect, investigative journalist Rae de Leon sets out to expose a devastating truth that shakes the very foundations of justice in America. As she travels across the country, Rae uncovers a chilling pattern of young women who, after reporting alleged sexual assaults, find themselves at the receiving end of an unfathomable injustice - they are charged with making false reports, arrested, and even imprisoned by the very institutions that are supposed to protect them. Rae's investigation begins with a series of newspaper articles, each showcasing a harrowing tale of a young woman whose complaint of rape was met with dismissal, skepticism, and even hostility. Her search for answers leads her to meet with these women, each with their own heartbreaking story of how the system failed them. There's Sophia, a college student who was raped by her roommate's boyfriend, only to be told that she should have known better and that she was probably "asking for it." There's Jamie, a teenage girl who claimed that she was assaulted by a stranger in her neighborhood, only to be accused of fabricating the story because she was wearing short shorts. And then there's Rachel, a law student who reported that she was raped by her friend, only to be told that she was probably in the wrong place at the wrong time. As Rae digs deeper, she discovers a disturbing statistic - in many parts of the country, law enforcement agencies are prioritizing the prosecution of false report charges over actual crimes. She learns that the vast majority of these young women are not malicious liars, but rather, they are victims of a flawed system that is designed to protect the powerful, rather than the vulnerable. Rae begins to suspect that something far more sinister is at play, something that involves corruption, complicity, and outright disregard for the truth. Rae's investigation takes her to the very heart of the crisis - the police departments, courtrooms, and even hospitals, where the system is supposed to prioritize justice for survivors of sexual assault. But what she finds is starkly different. She meets with police officers who view the victims as "liars" or "troublemakers," and prosecutors who are more concerned with winning convictions than achieving justice. She learns that hospital staff often fail to properly document injuries or collect evidence, effectively rendering the victim's testimony unreliable. And she discovers that judges are often more lenient on perpetrators, viewing them as "boys who made mistakes," rather than holding them accountable for their crimes. As Rae gathers more evidence, she becomes increasingly obsessed with exposing the truth behind the system's failures. But she also faces a daunting obstacle - the very institutions she is investigating are now under scrutiny, and they will stop at nothing to discredit her and silence her. Rae's research is constantly scrutinized, her sources are threatened, and her reputation is attacked. But she refuses to back down, convinced that the truth must be told, no matter the cost. Just as Rae is about to reveal her findings to the world, she receives a chilling message - her own niece, a college student, has reported a rape, and the authorities are already questioning her credibility. Rae is faced with an unbearable truth: the system that failed her own family's victims is also failing her own family's member. This time, she is not just an investigator; she is a loved one on the receiving end of the system's injustices. With her research and her own family's case now intertwined, Rae knows that she must confront the powers that be head-on. In a tense, heart-wrenching confrontation, Rae stands up to the police chief, the prosecutor, and the judge, each of whom she believes is complicit in the system's failures. Her words are a clarion call for justice, a demand for accountability, and a plea for mercy. The outcome of this confrontation is far from certain, but one thing is clear: Rae de Leon has become the very thing she set out to report on - a victim/suspect, caught in a system that values power over truth and justice. The film ends with a sense of uncertainty, leaving the audience with a haunting question: will Rae's niece find justice, or will she become the next statistic in a system designed to silence women?