As much as I’m drawn to true crime documentaries, they often let me down with their ambiguity and unresolved endings. Wait! Everything is speculative? We don’t find out who did it? Life’s complicated enough. I need closure! So consider my surprise when I watched My Brother’s Killer, which premiered at SXSW 2026. Rachel Mason’s jaw-dropping, intensely involving follow-up to her 2019 film, Circus Of Books, gives us a full meal.
In fact, the new documentary wouldn’t have existed without her prior one because of information Rachel learns from her mother Karen, again a hilariously unwilling participant, who co-owned Circus Of Books. Their store provided a sense of community for gay people. Gay porn was illegal at the time, but they offered refuge, a place for people to come together. From another contact, Rachel gets reminded of a gruesome 1990 West Hollywood murder of a 25-year-old man named William Arnold Newton, aka gay adult film actor Billy London. With his severed head and feet found in a dumpster, the lack of evidence caused the case to go cold, languishing for years until a combination of podcasters, amateur sleuths, police officers and Mason herself, all still obsessed with the case, kept the fires burning.
Context is key here. With the HIV/AIDS epidemic in full force and homophobia frequently rearing its ugly head, including a glut of gay bashings, the LGBTQ+ community felt particularly vulnerable in 1990. Enter William/Billy, who left conservative Wisconsin in 1984 to seek out a better gay life for himself in West Hollywood. Young, vulnerable and with few options, he fell into the adult film business as both an actor and make-up artist. Things soured for William when he began using drugs, leading to his desire to change the scenery. He planned to move to Las Vegas to help his mother, but never got there.
At first, clues pointed to notorious serial killer, Jeffrey Dahmer, but those went by the wayside. Persons of interest subsequently materialized, such as Newton’s boyfriend Marc Rabins and other people in the gay adult film world. The film unfolds like a decades long murder mystery as various investigators such as LAPD homicide detectives Wendi Berndt and John Lamberti, social worker Clark Williams, Mike Szymanski aka Mickey Skee, an adult industry journalist, Chi Chi LaRue, an adult filmmaker, podcasters Christopher Rice (Anne Rice’s son) and Eric Shaw Quinn, and many others converge to piece together clues. Although filled with several dead ends, their doggedness leads us to a satisfying conclusion and a devastatingly sad portrait of queer life at the time. Ostracized by the world at large, especially within their own families, and facing an unprecedented health crisis, many in the community remained wide open to harm. William’s murder, for example, was just one of 991 in Los Angeles that year.
Without spoiling the outcome of this particular case, the film, while an effective piece of investigative journalism, truly achieves a higher purpose by excavating the root causes of such crimes. One reveal after another comes quick and fast in the final act, and I honestly sat with my mouth agape in response to what unfolded. I went to bed that night feeling shattered, followed by disturbing nightmares. This documentary will not appeal to the faint of heart.
Additionally, a few flaws also emerge. Chief among them being we don’t get a complete picture of William, who remains somewhat of a tragic cipher throughout. Despite the testimonials of those who knew him, we barely hear his voice and don’t go too deep into the challenges he faced. Obviously, a lack of first person material prevents this from happening, but some more specifics from those interviewed would have helped. The title also proves misleading as it implies a sibling’s point of view. While we do hear from William’s sister, she is only one of many contributors, all of whom did not give up in their search for the truth.
The case had remained closed for decades but Rice and Shaw’s podcast, The Dinner Party Show, reignited police interest in 2021. Although a grim and depressing subject, I felt an enormous sense of pride in how people from all walks of life came together to honor otherwise forgotten victims such as William. That this film also treats the perpetrators of such crimes with similar empathy only served to enrich the experience. My Brother’s Killer serves as a reckoning for all of us. If we don’t examine the horrendous effects of homophobia, we remain doomed to its worst outcomes. With anti-LGBTQ sentiment so prevalent under our current administration, this film about a 36-year-old case couldn’t be more relevant.
By Glenn Gaylord, Senior Film Critic
My Brother’s Killer received its world premiere at SXSW 2026 and is currently seeking distribution. Follow My Brothers Killer on Instagram and Facebook for subsequent screeninsg and to follow the film’s journey.
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