The story of the West Memphis 3 has already been exhaustively covered in three masterful documentaries (Paradise Lost, Paradise Lost 3, West of Memphis), one so-so documentary (Paradise Lost 2), and countless TV magazine segments. But until now, the case seems to have only attracted documentarians, not filmmakers who specialize in feature-length dramas.
Enter Atom Egoyan’s The Devil’s Knot. Based on Mara Leveritt’s 2002 book of the same name, the film stars Reese Witherspoon as the mother of one of the three boys who were murdered in what investigators initially believed to be a Satanic sacrifice, and Colin Firth as a private investigator who comes to suspect that the three teens accused of the crime are in fact innocent.
For those who have already seen the Paradise Lost films and West of Memphis, a dramatization of the same events will no doubt seem superfluous. But for those who haven’t seen the documentaries, The Devil’s Knot could very well serve as the perfect introduction.
