Last night I had the privilege of attending the world premiere of ‘Devil’s Knot’, which co-stars True Blood‘s Stephen Moyer, at the Toronto International Film Festival. Based on the book of the same name by Mara Leveritt, ‘Devil’s Knot’ revolves the real life crime drama surrounding the West Memphis Three.
Movie
Directed by Atom Egoyan, the film tells the story of three young boys (Stevie Branch, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore), who go missing from their small town in West Memphis, Arkansas. The police department becomes fixated on the idea that the murders were the work of a satanic cult and they quickly focus their investigation on 18 year old Damien Echols, 16 year old Jason Baldwin, and 17 year old Jessie Misskelley Jr.. Despite a total lack of evidence against them, and evidence that actually shows it was not them, all three were convicted of first degree murder. Echols was sentenced to death while the other two were sentenced to life in prison.
The movie stars Reese Witherspoon as Pam Hobbs, the mother of Stevie Branch, who becomes concerned that the wrong people are being prosecuted for the crimes. Colin Firth appears as Ron Lax, a private investigator that works tirelessly to prove the innocence of the boys. Moyer tackles a difficult role and portrays John Fogelman, one of the prosecutors on the case.
Given the widespread belief that the West Memphis Three were unfairly prosecuted, during the Q&A after the movie an audience member asked Moyer if it was difficult to take on this role knowing what we know now. You can watch his reply below.
Background
There were a number of issues with the case from the beginning including a botched crime scene, lost evidence, several possible suspects that were ignored, and questionable rulings from the trial judge. Despite all of this, the three spent 18 years trying to get justice and along the way they attracted the attention of notable celebrities such as Johnny Depp, Eddie Vedder and Natalie Maynes. Drawing even more attention to the case, rock group Metallica allowed their music to be used in the three Paradise Lost documentaries – the first time they have ever granted such permission.
In 2011, due to the large media attention the case was receiving, and all of the evidence showing these men were innocent, the three suspects were allowed to enter an Alford plea. This allowed them to plead guilty, while maintaining their innocence and resulted in the three men being immediately released from prison. All three maintain their innocence to this day and continue to fight for justice for themselves, and the three boys.
Review:
I had seen a number of specials on the West Memphis Three and was really looking forward to seeing the movie, even before I knew Stephen was in it. Atom Egoyan and the cast did not disappoint. Although there was no new information revealed, the movie was a solid representation of the key facts and reminded us that three men lost 18 years of their lives for nothing. To make matters worse, justice has never been found for the three murdered boys.
Witherspoon was phenomenal as a mother who wanted someone to pay for the death of her son, but was able to look at the evidence objectively and see that it just didn’t add up. Moyer had the difficult job of playing one of the prosecutors who participated in the railroading of these three young men, and definitely did the role justice. The stand-out for me in this movie was Colin Firth. The role of Ron Lax in this case has been largely overlooked but after this movie no one can doubt how important he was in getting attention to the West Memphis Three.
Overall even though the film did not reveal any new information, for those of you who know nothing about the case or who want to know more, this is an excellent choice. I highly recommend the movie despite the difficult content!
Below are some of the pictures that I got during the premiere. Enjoy!
Image/Video Credit: Jaimie Marshall/True Blood Fan Source
