Review: 'Jay Sebring... Cutting To The Truth' Offers a Truer Slice of a Tragic History

Over 50 years ago, the Manson family's mass murder of Sharon Tate, her unborn baby, and four others shocked the nation, as well as the Los Angeles Entertainment Industry. Released this week to digital and VOD is Anthony DiMaria's new Documentary Feature "Jay Sebring... Cutting To The Truth," which has been brought to the light of day via Shout! Studios and produced by 1010 Films present in association with Halation.

"Cutting to the Truth" focuses on the life and lore of one of "the others" killed in the murderous rampage," pioneering men's hairstylist and entrepreneur Jay Sebring. Director DiMaria is Sebring's nephew, and he has made it his life's work to uncover the truth about his uncle Jay and the legacy of how the media portrayed his uncle at the time of his murder.

Jay and Anthony's relationship was cut short because of the 1969 killings. Sebring's overall story is quite interesting, and DiMaria's work at gathering new information after 50 years of his passing is a dutiful one. Sebring was an absolutely lovable person who would've warmed hearts if he had been a character in any Hollywood film. Trying to find his way in life after his young adulthood in the military, he relocated from Detroit to Los Angles, starting a fresh new approach to designing and cutting men's hair. He became well-known as the "Haircutter to the stars," and was the leading hairstyle authority for performers like Vic Damone, Andy Williams, Henry Fonda, The Rat Pack, and many more.

DiMaria portrays his uncle as an exuberant lost soul rising to the top in the height of the end of Hollywood's golden age. "Cutting To The Truth" interviews countless stars who knew Sebring, offering a first-time personal look into what made up Jay's character and crystalizing why he had the drive he did to succeed. DiMaria aims to clear Jay Sebring's name; he has been, up until now, painted as a drug addict, sex addict, and societal deviant. He also attempts to clarify what actually happened that night of the killings, and how the media incorrectly portrayed them. It is clear that even after 50 years, Sebring's loved ones are still dealing with the pain and grief of that fateful August evening.

Where "Jay Sebring.... Cutting To The Truth" falls short is on its technical attributes. Considering this documentary has interview footage with some stars who have been deceased for over nine years, one has to think about how long DiMaria's actually been working on this project and how it has finally come to completion. The interviews, albeit interesting, are poorly shot, and are unflattering for their interview subjects. The sound is poor, as is the lighting. Even the graphics within the doc could've easily been updated to today's technical standards.

Another low point for the doc is "Once Upon A Time In Hollywood's" Quentin Tarantino as an interview subject. Although this interview is more recent, I find it ironic that DiMaria chose a director who uses revisionist history to tell the story of the murders in his film, but DiMaria bases his documentary on how Hollywood and the media have exploited his uncle's death for financial gain.

With any film like this it boils down to the good in its storytelling outweighing the bad, and in this way, the film succeeds.