Movie Review: Paradise Lost 3

Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory

Synopsis: Back in 1996, filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky set out to make a documentary for HBO on the West Memphis 3 – three teenage kids that were accessed of murdering three 8-year-old boys and sentenced to life imprisonment with one of the teenagers been given the death penalty. The documentary focused on the questionable evidence and lack of thorough police investigative work that lead to their incarceration and hit such chords with the American public that soon celebrities such as Johnny Depp were championing the cause in an attempt to get the three boys a new trial. Four years later, Berlinger and Sinofsky followed-up their story with Paradise Lost: Revelations which was a more biased account of the teenager's innocence and used new information and footage to help promote their cause. Fifteen years later, Berlinger and Sinofsky finish the trilogy with Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory that takes one final look at the teenagers who spent nearly 20 years in prison before finally being released after new DNA evidence indicated they may be innocent and recaps the case as a whole.

Having seen both the other documentaries in this series and also growing near the case where press coverage was front page news for months, I didn't expect this story to ever have a happy ending. Technically it's still not a happy ending as 3 young boys are still dead and their killer or killers haven't been found, but at least 3 innocent people aren't still stuck in prison for a crime they didn't commit, or worse yet... executed.

The documentary is very well done and fascinating. It follows the case through media coverage, photographs and interviews. The first part of the film is primarily background and catch-up, and there are plenty of repeats from the first 2 films throughout so if you've seen the first 2 you'll see a lot of repeating. But if you've not seen the first 2, there's really no need. Just watch this one.

It's equally fascinating to see the 3 accused to grow up before your very eyes as the years go on. In fact many people associated with the case age and transform, especially John Mark Byers. There's a lot of real emotion here too, grieving and suffering are caught on film, and that's the element that makes it so captivating to me. These are real people.

Some of it, mostly the crime scene footage, is just hard to watch. That's nothing new as it lead off the very first film in the series, but it sure hasn't gotten any easier to see with time.

There are new suspicions presented and revelations like the misconduct of the original trial's jury foreman, but it's all just building up to get to the end when the men get released from prison.

9/10