West Of Memphis Review

30th May 2013

This documentary tackles the impossible task of looking into the tragic and savage murder of three young boys and exonerating the three teenagers that were imprisoned for the crime. Staying true to both aims might seem contradictory at times, but the documentary navigates between the two convincingly.

Following on from Paradise Lost, West of Memphis joins the Memphis Three eighteen years into their sentence. Touching briefly on their trial, they go back to the start, looking into the murders again. Having been unable over the years to prove that the Memphis Three are innocent despite alibis galore, the documentary team decide instead to look for the real killer/s. With stunning new evidence, they go to the courts to look for a re-trial, but face obstacles at every turn from a State infrastructure unwilling to admit they’ve made mistakes.

Produced by Peter Jackson and Damien Echols, it’s an incredible documentary with unprecedented access to the victims families, to those incarcerated and to everyone involved in the legal process. The video footage is disturbing and compelling. It’s truly touching that so many people have devoted time, energy and funds to investigating these murders and also shocking that the police are not interested in doing the same – this is a private investigation into the murders.

The lack of justice for the three children who were murdered is truly shocking and you’ll be left reeling from the evidence that the documentary makers uncover. This is truly in-depth investigative journalism at it’s purest. At well over two hours, you might think it’s meandering and slow but there is so much going on in this community that you’ll struggle to keep up with the twists, turns and dead ends. An absolute must, it’s essential viewing on a dark and terrible event that still screams for a resolution and justice for all of the victims.