Echols in particular aged with extraordinary grace. “Paradise Lost 2” shows that the West Memphis 3 grew up and didn’t go crazy, a miracle in itself that adds substantial intrigue to the media curiosity surrounding their next steps. ![]() However, it provides a snapshot of time passed in much the same manner that Michael Apted’s “Up Series” portrayed a group of Brits from their childhood and into middle age. “Paradise Lost 2” lacks the same immediacy and, because the directors weren’t allowed in the courtroom, feels less essential. More than that, the tireless efforts to reevaluate the case and fight bias undoubtedly paved the way to their exoneration, even though it hasn’t cleared their names. Its capacity to emphasize the injustice explains the outpouring of support that the West Memphis 3 received after the film’s release. Interviews with bereaved parents of the dead children illustrate the essential disconnect: “They ain’t gonna kill no babies anymore,” one of them utters after the final sentencing, underlining how their need for catharsis overruled the importance of a fair trial.Īt 2 1/2 hours, “Paradise Lost” remains an exhausting work of cinematic journalism, combining a classical vérité approach with profound investigative skills. Baldwin was basically tacked onto Echols’ coattails, and Miskelley doomed himself before his trial even began. Echols, with his grim heavy-metal style and developing interest in the Wiccan religion, makes for an easy target.Īnd so the defense barrels down on him by way of stereotyping rather than empirical evidence. Through one witness interrogation after another, the directors paint a delicate portrait of appearance and reality in continual headlock. The first entry’s guiding narrative involved the filmmakers’ incredible access to courtroom proceedings. While that mood hasn’t changed, the movies are now enlivened with new value. Until this month, “Paradise Lost” and its sequel were sad, haunted works about the victims of a broken justice system. Despite many attempts to poke holes in the accusations over the years, it wasn’t until the men entered Alford pleas, a little-known law that allowed them to plead guilty while maintaing their innocence, that a judge was able to sentence them to time served and set them free. Baldwin and Misskelley landed life imprisonment while Echols found himself on death row. ![]() Within days, three teenagers were quickly snatched up: Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, Jr., whose inaccurate confession sealed their initial fate.Īlthough Misskelley later recanted his story, citing coercion by the police, the juries didn’t hesitate. In 1993, three eight-year-old boys were found dead in a ditch, naked and gruesomely mutilated below the waist. The case details have been repeated many times, threaded through court testimonies, back-room legal strategy sessions and news reports. ‘Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One’ Review: Tom Cruise Escalates His War Against Streaming with Actioner About Evil of Algorithms ![]() It’s safe to say that they have taken on an entirely new dimension. In the meantime, HBO is re-airing the existing two films this week, providing a unique opportunity to evaluate them in light of recent events. In a few weeks, the filmmakers will unveil “ Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory,” the installment that abruptly landed a new ending this month. In 1999, the filmmakers followed with “Paradise Lost 2: Revelations,” which found the former teenagers, now in their early twenties, attempting to return to the courtroom with the help of newfound support. Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky’s groundbreaking 1996 HBO documentary “Paradise Lost: The Child Murders of Robin Hood Hills” brought global attention to the defendants and the messy trial that led to their convictions on the basis of specious evidence. However, for viewers familiar with their struggles, the story had already ended twice before. When the trio of Arkansas men convicted of crimes they may not have committed 18 years ago suddenly found themselves free on August 19, a significant chapter in the saga of the “West Memphis 3” came to a dramatic close.
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