In 1993 in Oklahoma City, a young woman named Wanda Jean Allen shot and killed her lover, Gloria Wilson. Although it was not her intent to kill, Wanda Jean had killed before seven years prior. Convicted of murder in both cases, Wanda Jean was sentenced to death, which is where Liz Garbus’s compelling, provocative film picks up. The Execution of Wanda Jean—which can be interpreted literally and figuratively—follows the efforts of Wanda Jean’s team of attorneys, clergy and investigators as they work to gain clemency on her behalf. But central to the film are the stories of two families—Wanda Jean’s and Gloria’s—as they both struggle to make sense of Oklahoma’s penal and legal systems, as well their familial challenges and defeats. Ultimately The Execution of Wanda Jean examines the issues of forgiveness, redemption and faith.  NBB