Christian was released on parole in January 1996 after serving less than five years. He died from complications of pneumonia in January 2008 at the age of 49.

Brando, who died July 1, 2004, at 80, lamented in an audio recording unearthed in the 2015 documentary Marlon: Listen upChristian was plagued by emotional disorders, psychological distress, and the type of problems that I faced in my own life.

The killing of Cheyenne’s boyfriend on May 16, 1990, and the crime’s endlessly tragic consequences figured prominently in the film, director Stevan Riley telling British GQ“The awful thing that took place at the house that night was the perfect intersection for cross-examination of the themes surrounding Marlon brando’s mythology.”

Brando’s loved ones, in warts or not, felt happy to share their feelings. Realität him come across after he spent his days alternately courting and shirking the spotlight, a paradox that resulted in more rumors and assumptions than anything else.

The actor’s daughter Rebecca told the magazine, “He would have been proud, I hope” of the film. “He knew those tapes would be found and used in some way—he was no dummy. This was his journal, it’s his diary that he left unlocked. If he had wanted, he could have destroyed them. The film, in a sense, is my dad’s coming back to me, an intimate part of his legacy.”