Joshua Rofé is a filmmaker known for bringing fresh perspectives to well-worn narratives, with previous projects like Hulu’s “Sasquatch” and the gripping, personal investigation “Lorena” making waves. His unique approach to storytelling is what initially attracted audiences to his work, setting high expectations for his projects. However, HBO’s “The Mortician” doesn’t live up to the same level of intrigue. Despite a truly fascinating real-life case at its core, this documentary ultimately falls short of providing the depth and complexity that one might expect from a project exploring the life of a notorious sociopath.
Rofé’s focus in “The Mortician” is on David Sconce, a funeral director from Pasadena whose crimes were both grotesque and shocking, but the film never truly uncovers the depravity behind his actions in a way that captivates the audience. The problem is that the documentary fails to deepen the story in any significant way. It fails to provide fresh insights, leaving viewers feeling like they’re just watching a retelling of a story that could have been more impactful as an in-depth podcast.
The true crime genre is known for its ability to uncover the darkness within human behavior. A key element of any successful true crime documentary is whether the story can hold your attention and provide something more than just basic details, which you could easily hear in a podcast episode. Unfortunately, “The Mortician” is a textbook example of a project that feels padded to meet its three-hour runtime. Instead of tight, focused storytelling, we get unnecessary filler and repetitive material. A crucial flaw of the film is its heavy reliance on interviews with Sconce, who, despite his actions, remains disturbingly nonchalant about the crimes he committed. This lack of remorse only compounds the frustration viewers feel as they follow along with a man who sees nothing wrong in his actions, despite the clear evidence of his wrongdoing.
As is often the case with documentaries that center around unrepentant criminals, there is no real moral or emotional payoff here. The interviews, while intimate, fail to lead to any breakthrough moments. Rofé seems to be hoping for a revelation akin to what was seen in “The Jinx,” a true crime docuseries that stunned viewers with a breakthrough moment that felt almost cinematic in its power. But “The Mortician” never achieves that level of tension or drama, and it struggles to make its subject compelling.
David Sconce was the owner of the Lamb Funeral Home in Pasadena during the 1980s, and he’s the central figure of this investigation. When the Lamb Funeral Home was initially under scrutiny, people were baffled by how Sconce was able to handle so many bodies in such a short amount of time. Crematoriums, by their nature, have a limited capacity, but Sconce was operating at a scale that seemed almost supernatural. His funeral home was suspected of conducting mass cremations, cramming dozens of bodies into the crematorium at once and subsequently mixing the ashes together, an act that disturbed the families of the deceased once the ruse was uncovered.
What was initially thought to be a case of overcapacity soon evolved into something far darker. “The Mortician” reveals that Sconce wasn’t simply performing mass cremations for financial gain; he was also engaging in theft. Sconce and his employees were raiding the bodies for valuables, particularly gold teeth, and selling human organs on the black market. This revelation adds a new layer of horror to his already grim actions, turning his funeral home into a grotesque operation.
What’s particularly chilling is Sconce’s own perspective on the matter. In interviews, he is disturbingly matter-of-fact about his crimes, showing no remorse and, in fact, completely dismissing the notion that he did anything wrong. He describes the human body as little more than a vessel, something disposable once life has left it. In his worldview, there’s no harm in what he did. To him, it was akin to digging up something from the earth. He doesn’t see the bodies he mishandled as anything worth respecting, further illustrating his lack of humanity and empathy.
Despite these revelations, the documentary struggles to maintain a gripping pace. The film builds a compelling narrative at the outset, giving a detailed introduction to Sconce’s worldview and how he rationalized his actions. But as the documentary unfolds, it bogs down in its attempt to fill three hours of runtime. The film repeats many of the same points over and over, and viewers are left with a sense that they’ve already seen everything the film has to offer long before it ends. This feeling of repetitiveness takes away from the film’s potential impact.
One of the key issues with “The Mortician” is its failure to explore the nuances of Sconce’s character or delve deeper into the broader implications of his actions. The documentary keeps promising that a moment of clarity or moral reckoning will arrive—something like the shocking twist in “The Jinx”—but it never comes. Instead, we’re left with a portrait of a man who remains unchanged and unapologetic, and that’s where the film falters. True crime documentaries are often about confronting the darkest aspects of human nature, but in this case, the subject seems so unrepentant and detached that it’s hard to feel any real emotional engagement with the material.
The three-hour length of “The Mortician” only exacerbates the problem. True crime documentaries are often long, but the best ones are tightly edited and focused, making each moment count. “The Mortician” feels padded, as if the runtime was more important than the actual content of the documentary. This leads to moments where the film meanders, revisiting the same points over and over, rather than pushing the story forward. While the case itself is undeniably fascinating, the film fails to present it in a way that holds the audience’s attention for its entire duration.
Ultimately, “The Mortician” doesn’t feel like a groundbreaking piece of investigative journalism or an insightful exploration of a criminal mind. Instead, it feels like a missed opportunity, a project that could have been far more engaging and impactful had it been edited down to a more concise runtime or given more time to explore the nuances of its subject. Instead of providing a fresh perspective on David Sconce’s actions, the film leaves us with little more than a repetitive, frustrating exploration of a man who clearly sees himself as blameless.
What’s clear, however, is that Sconce’s actions, as disturbing and grotesque as they were, have remained relatively obscure in the public consciousness. His complete lack of remorse and understanding of his own depravity makes him a particularly difficult figure to explore. Rofé’s documentary never quite manages to peel back the layers of Sconce’s psyche in the way that true crime enthusiasts have come to expect. Instead, it relies heavily on interviews and surface-level insights that don’t fully engage with the complexities of its subject.
In the end, “The Mortician” stands as a testament to the difficulty of tackling such a monstrous figure without providing deeper insight or emotional resonance. It’s a frustrating watch that doesn’t give us the resolution or breakthrough moment that many had hoped for. As much as the case itself is fascinating, the film’s execution ultimately fails to live up to the high bar set by both Rofé’s previous work and the broader true crime genre. For anyone looking to understand the depths of Sconce’s depravity or the intricacies of his crimes, the documentary leaves much to be desired.
