Why ‘The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox’ Ended on an Ambiguous Confession

[This story contains spoilers from the season finale of The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox, “Libertá.”]

K.J. Steinberg researched the story of Amanda Knox for three and a half years in preparation for Hulu‘s The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox, all culminating in a season finale that the showrunner proudly admits isn’t typical of a true-crime show.

The eight-episode drama could have ended after its sixth episode, when Knox (played by Tell Me Lies star Grace Van Patten) saw her murder conviction overturned on appeal after a yearslong, harrowing legal journey following the killing of her roommate, Meredith Kercher, in Perugia, Italy. Instead, the series that counts Knox herself as a producer followed Knox home after that verdict and her newfound freedom, and eventually circled back to how the show opened: with Knox reaching out to the man who helped convict her, former prosecutor Giuliano Mignini. Knox co-wrote the finale, “Libertá,” with Steinberg.

“It was really epic that these two unlikely-to-meet people would come to define each other’s life in this really interesting and really profound way, so of course, we had to follow her home,” Steinberg tells The Hollywood Reporter of Knox corresponding with and then meeting Mignini after she was freed, and the series opening and closing on that confrontation. “I think in the deepest part of herself, she probably, of course, did want him to absolve her and then trumpet that to the world. But through my conversations with her and through seeing some of the correspondence, I learned that, at least in my opinion, it was he who needed her to absolve him.”

Below, Steinberg explains why the series then ends on an ambiguous confession, what it was like on set when Knox revisited the recreated Italian home where the murder took place, and why she also wanted to spend time on both Raffaele Sollecito and Meredith Kercher in the end.

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It was interesting when you said that most true-crime series would have ended after your sixth episode, but that you as producers kept pushing, and you credited Amanda Knox and also Monica Lewinsky for that. What was the spark for that idea to follow Amanda back to the U.S. once she was free?

We always knew, and I always knew, that we wanted to go further, because we’re trying to examine an ecosystem in which grave injustices can happen, and that those grave injustices didn’t end when Amanda was freed from prison. She’s an infamous person because the echoes of trauma were loud and long. Because it dogged her as she went home. She tried to reenter a life that no longer resembled anything she could recognize, and she had to figure out how to reclaim herself.

The pilot started with her return to Italy in 2022. When we decided that would be the entry point when I was researching the project, I quickly realized that the most fascinating relationship was that of Amanda and her former prosecutor, [Giuliano] Mignini. The reason why she reached out to him is because the perversion of her name and the perversion of the truth was something she was continuing to fight against and to correct — and she’s still trying to. She’s still trying.

It was also imperative for Monica [Lewinsky, also a producer]. In order for the project to be as deep and as expansive in the message we all wanted to portray, we had to follow Amanda home and see the damage — not only done to her, but to those who loved her.

Executive producer Warren Littlefield said there was initial questioning from Hulu and producers 20^th Television about continuing on with these final two episodes, but that your partners agreed once they saw what you all plotted out.

I had a very detailed pitch (laughs), acting out the dramatic parts. I think once they heard it out loud, they really understood the power of it.

Has Hulu been sharing any viewership with you?

The show is doing well. They don’t get specific. It’s doing very well.

So, they’re happy with the decision to continue on with these final two.

Yes. I think as storytellers themselves, they really did see the value. They’re very supportive of these two episodes.

How did Amanda Knox co-writing the finale come about?

I made that decision really early on. I knew that my vision for the final episode was going to be a sizable one-act play between Amanda and Mignini, and I knew that it was going to lean largely on her retelling of every moment she could remember of that. Her memoir was beautifully written. She’s written gorgeous articles. She’s so bright and articulate. I also know she has suffered from feeling like those who she’s in partnership with, or at least those she trusts, steal her voice. They tell her it’s going to be okay and it’s going to represent her well and be good for her, only for her to turn around and have it be the exact opposite experience. So I really wanted to give that to her, to tell her that I’m not only saying, “Trust me,” I’m also saying, “I trust you.”

Because of that decision, viewers get real insight into Amanda here, also from her conversation with [ex-boyfriend] Raffaele Sollecito and from her inner monologue when she goes back to visit the Italian home where Meredith Kercher was killed. After all of your research and writing, when you actually sat down and worked on this finale together, what did you learn about Amanda?

That’s a really good question. I learned a lot about Amanda in the process of making this series, more than I did in the process of writing that episode. I learned that she is incredibly flexible, and that she was open to telling and showing the parts of herself that have been highly criticized, and that she really understood and respected and supported not removing those moments.

What I did learn in the conceptualizing of the finale is that she really believed that she was going to see Mignini to offer him a kindness. It wasn’t that the act of compassion and sitting down and endeavoring to forgive him was the goal for the freedom of her soul and her deepest heartache. I think she also, of course, went because she wanted to disabuse him of some really false notions. She wanted to quiet the noise around them, and offer a non-adversarial conversation to see each other clearly. I think in the deepest part of herself she probably, of course, did want him to absolve her and then trumpet that to the world. But through my conversations with her and through seeing some of the correspondence, I learned that, at least in my opinion, it was he who needed her to absolve him.

The series ends with Grace, as Amanda, saying, “Some of you may think I’m innocent and some guilty, and that’s okay.” Do you feel like Amanda accepts that? That even by the end of this series, there will still be people who think she’s guilty or think some of the uglier accusations you showed?

I think in order to survive and thrive, she has had to grapple with the acceptance that there are things she cannot control. That’s part of what makes her so admirable and courageous to me, that she continues to go out and use her voice in the world and however she sees fit, despite the fact that there are detractors who are at the ready. She doesn’t cower. She doesn’t take the cues from people who misunderstand her to say, “Live small, stay inside.” She says, “Fuck that.”

This series is about Amanda reclaiming her narrative. How much have you been engaging with the response to the show and do you feel like the series is helping to reclaim her narrative?

I keep my world pretty small for my own sanity. I’m not on social media. I only know what my nearest and dearest [think]. I’ve gotten messages from people I haven’t spoken to in 20 or 30 years saying how compelling they find the show. A couple of the sentiments that are uniform throughout their response is how scary and terrifying the story is to them, and how angry it makes them on her behalf. Of course, they are saying it’s beautiful and well told, and that Grace is extraordinary, which she is. The acting is masterful across the board, and the filmmaking is gorgeous. Everybody’s appreciating it for its filmic quality. But the sentiment is largely like, “I didn’t know. I thought I knew. And what I’m learning is really disturbing.” And that’s gratifying because that was what we aimed to do, which was to widen the lens. To give some dimension to the flat caricature of her and of Mignini that people were associating with this story.

Do you know if Amanda has been taking a similarly distanced approach?

No (laughs). She’s loud and proud. She engages.

How often do you two speak about that? How often is she responding to the response with you or engaging in that conversation?

You’d have to ask her what her emotional experience has been. I don’t speak to her often about the social media part — except when she sends me a screenshot that Kim Kardashian was into the show, which was a great moment. But I’ve sat on panels with Amanda — and we have one for the finale partnering with the Innocence Project — which is such a pleasure because she’s so articulate and speaks from a place of such strength about this entire experience that’s still evolving for her, including with this series, which is deeply gratifying to me.

What has your correspondence been with Raffaele Sollecito (played by Giuseppe De Domenico) throughout making this series?

I haven’t had correspondence with him. I did meet him at the premiere, and that was a profound experience.

He’s supportive of the show.

He is. He is very [supportive], and he is such a dear, dear boy. I know he’s a young man, but I still see him as a boy. He is sensitive and thoughtful. I got to know him by researching him so when we met it was so odd. It was so imbalanced because I knew so much about him and he knew very little of me. I feel like he was and is absolutely heroic.

You have called him the “oft-forgotten man” in this story. He was such a focus in the beginning and then, to your point, he faded into the background. Why did you and Amanda Knox feel it was important to focus on him as well and make him such a big part of the series?

By the very fact that the media villainized him, then erased him, and we as consumers sort of let it happen. What we were trying to illuminate in this show is the power of big media, the power of false narrative, the danger of entrenchment and how it misses the truth and misses human beings in the process. It was vital to me from the beginning. I always knew I was going to tell his story from his point of view and in his voice.

You walk away from the show feeling like he and Amanda have this sort of unbreakable bond, and an ongoing relationship still.

They do. They have a lovely friendship. They’re battle-scarred. They were inextricably linked by something horrifying. Something that stole from them; stole things they could never get back. But they don’t only talk about that. They have a friendship where they support each other and love each other, and they want good things for each other’s lives. And their friendship supports those endeavors.

Your final shot of the series is in a confessional, where the priest (Alfredo Pea) sees someone he recognizes but viewers deliberately never see who has come to confess. Can you tell me why you wanted to end the show there, and not turn the camera around?

Well, the camera was turned around. It had been turned around. I always knew I wanted to end on [the person] taking that breath wordlessly, but really it was turning the camera on the audience as it evolved. Which is to say, maybe we look at ourselves and what our false narratives have been; how our beliefs have evolved over watching this series and ingesting this story. How can we look at ourselves and maybe let go of some of the ugly narratives we believe to be true, and be more discerning?

Have you corresponded with Mignini at all?

No.

Did he know about this series before it came out?

Yes, he did.

Did he share anything with Amanda in terms of his hopes?

I think you would have to ask Amanda that question. I feel like those correspondences are sacrosanct. And it’s not for me to speak to them. I can say I think he had a concern, of course, about how he was going to be portrayed, but Francesco Aquaroli [the actor who plays him] brings so much integrity and dignity and gravitas to the role. So hopefully Mignini feels well-reflected.

What was it like for you to watch Grace Van Patton evolve in her Amanda Knox portrayal?

They met, and they talked. When Amanda was on set, they were in contact. But to Grace’s credit, she interpreted the role of Amanda. She created her own dimensional, deeply feeling character. I don’t think her interpretation of Amanda is a mimic. I think it comes from Grace’s own empathy and curiosity and intelligence, and she has such great instincts. I think the reason why Grace’s performance was so honest was because there was a closeness, but there was also a critical distance that allowed her to make some choices that were unique and thoroughly compelling to watch.

Was Amanda on set when you filmed Grace’s final scene in the series at the house?

No, she was not.

What about the first time Amanda watched that scene back?

I wasn’t with her during that. I was with her for a lot of other emotional moments. We were shooting in Budapest and our brilliant production designer, Henry Dunn, had recreated the house, the Via della Pergola home where poor Meredith died and where Amanda lived. I was like, “Sweetie, so the house is here, and it looks exactly like the photos I’ve seen. I think it’s going to be profound for you.” I held her hand and we went inside, and it just blew her back. It was really staggering. Really, really staggering.

I brought her in and she took it in, and started vibrating and having a really intense emotional response, and then I just sat quietly in the corner to let her have her time with the house. She was marveling at objects that the amazing props team had gotten right; these tiny little details, like objects of hers she had left behind and never recovered. She’s like, “Oh, my God, there’s my teapot. Those are my socks on the clothesline.” It was very, very emotional and very intense for her, and, I hope, healing.

The final montage of Meredith Kercher pays tribute to her in a way that the public really hasn’t seen. Have you heard from the Kercher family at all?

I have not personally. But it was important to include because she is oft-forgotten as well. Her life had been eclipsed by a media sensation, and justice for her was, in my opinion, not achieved fully. I wanted to remind everybody that at the base of this was a beautiful, intelligent, bright, dimensional, young woman whose life was cut short, whose potential was ripped from her. And I wanted to show her in her vibrancy.

You previously told us that you had “a firm, firm belief” in Amanda’s innocence after your research. Now that you’re at the end of this, how did that challenge you along the way? What if you come out with this show and you don’t change opinions?

I always knew that I couldn’t control what people thought. I hope to illuminate things that people didn’t know and show angles on things that would help people loosen their entrenchment from false belief. You can never control the way a viewer receives something that you’re putting out there, right? You hope that you tell the story in a compelling way, represent things authentically and honestly, and hope beyond hope that the audience is moved by what you’ve helped them discover.

Monica lent her experience to help tell Amanda’s story. Do you get the sense that Amanda wants to carry this on and tell other stories like hers? Do the three of you want to collaborate again?

I adore Monica. She kept this project integrous. I adore her. Of course, I would work with her again.

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The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox is now streaming all episodes on Hulu. Read THR’s recent cover story with Amanda Knox and Monica Lewinsky.