The name Kitty Genovese became synonymous with bystander apathy, inspiring numerous sociology books and articles, after The New York Times reported that 38 witnesses saw her being murdered—and did nothing to help.

The Witness follows her younger brother Bill's search for the truth, and ultimately debunks initial reports and long-held public opinion about the circumstances of her murder.

During the Vietnam War, averse to being an "apathetic bystander", Bill determined he "wasn’t going to be like the 38 witnesses, so [he] enlisted in the Marines", losing both his legs to battle wounds.

Her parents and siblings, to avoid bringing up painful memories, never discussed her, causing the details of her life to be a mystery, even to her eventual nieces and nephews.

The lede of the initial article in The New York Times about her death, written by Martin Gansberg, read: "For more than half an hour 38 respectable, law-abiding citizens in Queens watched a killer stalk and stab a woman in three separate attacks in Kew Gardens."

With leads from prosecutor Charles Skoller, he obtained the police interviews and the transcript of Winston Moseley's trial, and set about finding the witnesses or informants who were still alive.

In 1968, he escaped from prison and terrorized Buffalo, New York, for 4 days, breaking into houses, raping a woman at gunpoint, and taking hostages before being captured by the FBI.

[5] In a positive review, Pat Padua of The Washington Post wrote: "The Witness makes an encouraging case for the argument that society is not as apathetic as we fear.

Club, A.A. Dowd wrote: "Perhaps because any real closure is impossible at this point, The Witness eventually embraces its own inconclusiveness, like some documentary cousin to Zodiac.

"[14] Andy Webster of The New York Times praised the film and said: "A re-creation of the night, with an actress playing the screaming victim while Mr. Genovese observes, is harrowing.