Roll Red Roll

Steubenville, Ohio will never be the same

This true-crime thriller goes behind the headlines of a notorious high school sexual assault to uncover the deep-seated and social media-fueled “boys will be boys” culture that let it happen. At a pre-season football party in small-town Steubenville, Ohio, a heinous crime took place: the assault of a teenage girl by members of the beloved high school football team. What transpired would garner national attention and result in the sentencing of two key offenders. But it was the disturbing social media evidence uncovered online by crime blogger Alex Goddard that provoked the most powerful questions about the case, and about the collusion of teen bystanders, teachers, parents and coaches to protect the assailants and discredit the victim.

As it painstakingly reconstructs the night of the crime and its aftermath, Roll Red Roll reveals the ingrained rape culture at the heart of the incident, acting as a cautionary tale about what can happen when teenage social media bullying runs rampant and adults look the other way. The film unflinchingly asks: “why didn’t anyone stop it?”