Thirty years after the case of “Geauga’s Child” first rattled an Ohio community, Jessica Earnshaw is revisiting the story from a more complicated, human-centered perspective. The trailer and poster for “Baby Doe” have arrived, previewing Earnshaw’s new documentary about Gail Ritchey, a woman from a conservative Christian community in rural Ohio who gave birth alone three decades ago and left her newborn in the woods. Years later, now a devoted mother of three, Gail’s quiet suburban life is upended when DNA evidence links her to the long-unsolved case, leading to her arrest for murder.
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Authorities reject Gail’s claim that the baby was stillborn, while the media quickly casts her as a villain. Facing a possible life sentence, Gail turns to her husband, Mark, and their adult children, who must reckon with the gulf between the woman they know and the accusations against her. Alongside her attorney, Steven, Gail is forced to revisit the shame, silence, and social pressures that have shaped her life and the case against her.
Directed by Earnshaw, whose feature documentary debut “Jacinta” won the Albert Maysles New Documentary Director Award at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival before landing on Hulu, “Baby Doe” looks beyond the headlines to explore the intersection of women’s health, justice, religion, and public judgment. Rather than treating the case as a straightforward true-crime story, the documentary appears to probe the circumstances that led to Gail’s isolation, as well as the forces that continue to define how stories like hers are told.
“Baby Doe” opens July 10 at DCTV in New York City for a week-long run, with Los Angeles screenings to follow July 14 and 15. The film will then screen in San Francisco at The Roxy on July 19, with additional screenings planned in Seattle, Houston, and Gail Ritchey’s home state of Ohio. Domestic digital distribution will follow in the fall through Narrative Films’ label Persimmon.
