Directed by:
Atom EgoyanCinematography:
Paul SarossyComposer:
Mychael DannaCast:
Reese Witherspoon, Colin Firth, Mireille Enos, Kevin Durand, Elias Koteas, Dane DeHaan, Bruce Greenwood, Alessandro Nivola, Collette Wolfe, Amy Ryan (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
In 1993 West Memphis, Arkansas was rocked by the brutal murder of three eight year old boys. The police very quickly accused three teenagers, claiming they had killed the children as part of a satanic ritual. Devil's Knot chronicles this harrowing true story from the perspective of one of the mothers, Pam Hobbs (Reese Witherspoon) and the investigator for the accused boys’ defence team, Ron Lax (Colin Firth). Whilst the parents and the community struggle to cope with the heinous nature of this crime and call out for those responsible to be brought to justice, Lax discovers that the prosecutorial case is based entirely on circumstantial evidence and prejudicial assumptions about the accused teenagers’ love of goth culture and heavy metal music. (Icon Home Entertainment)
(more)Reviews (3)
I’d love to give this a higher rating, but I was sorely disappointed by the narration at the expense of the premise. The parts that are supposed to be shocking completely manage to escape your attention and when it comes to the court scenes, you’re basically falling asleep. I can’t shake the feeling that a premise as interesting as this deserved an atmosphere which would be better, darker and a tad more brutal. Not at the expense of the premise, but at the expense of the atmosphere that wasn’t even there in the first place. The only thing I got from this was a yearning to find out more about this case. However, the movie had already said everything. It was objective and the investigation, which doesn’t even exist in the movie in the form we are used to seeing in films, was described with a pinpoint accuracy. And even when there was the opportunity to speculate, it didn’t really hesitate at all. This makes it all the more ridiculous that they’ve let this case go cold in the US.
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A solid crime thriller based on true events. The bodies of three young children are found naked, mutilated and tied up in a lake and the suspects are three teenagers who listen to heavy metal music and are believed to be Satan worshippers. Since they are facing the death penalty and there is no direct evidence, Colin Firth offers his services for free and tries to help them at any cost. Bleak atmosphere, great actors, awesome trial scenes and a shocking finale. I have no idea why I ignored this six year old film for so long, but it's definitely worth a watch. 7/10.
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I think this story could have been handled much better, but on the other hand, I had a good feeling about Reese Witherspoon for the first time in a long while, even though I usually don't enjoy her performances that much. Colin Firth is excellent as always, but this film could have been much colder and even more brutal. Nevertheless, it quite effectively shows how justice is not what it should be, but rather what someone wants it to be.
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