A very powerful and deeply moving short film about the two boys who brutally murdered James Bulger in 1993. I'd been wanting to see this for myself since I head about it and I was lucky enough to find a youtuber who somehow managed to get this uploaded so I watched it straight away in fear of it being taken down off his channel if I delayed.
The film mostly jumps between police stations of the two boys being interviewed with The events that took place intermingled between them, leaving the strand with James up to nearly the point where they tortured and murdered him.
The clear distinction between the two boys is honest and very clear. Jon is scared and very emotional often breaking down in mad crying fits, Robert is tough and defensive and backchats the detectives at every possible moment. each of the two kids try to pin the majority of the blame on the other and seemingly becomes one giant mind game for the detectives involved.
Ely and Leon are absolutely terrific as Jon and Robert and the direction and overall ambiance of this film is astounding for a short film. Detainment is copping an astronomical amount of backlash as is the director but It's not a film that wants to humanize the two boys, it simply wants to shed some more light and ask more questions to get a better understanding of why they did what they did.
I'll be honest when I say Detainment will not be everyone's' cup of tea and there's a lot of people who will be giving this movie 1 out of 10 purely based on the subject matter but for me personally, I can see the importance in a film like this. It shows just how easily someones life can become undone and the rippling effect that shows how a single murder can have a strong lasting effect on so many people. James Bulger wasn't the only boy who lost his life. Two other boys lives also ended that day.
Vincent Lambe did an incredible job considering such a heavy subject matter is at hand here. A very powerful film considering it's short running time.
The film mostly jumps between police stations of the two boys being interviewed with The events that took place intermingled between them, leaving the strand with James up to nearly the point where they tortured and murdered him.
The clear distinction between the two boys is honest and very clear. Jon is scared and very emotional often breaking down in mad crying fits, Robert is tough and defensive and backchats the detectives at every possible moment. each of the two kids try to pin the majority of the blame on the other and seemingly becomes one giant mind game for the detectives involved.
Ely and Leon are absolutely terrific as Jon and Robert and the direction and overall ambiance of this film is astounding for a short film. Detainment is copping an astronomical amount of backlash as is the director but It's not a film that wants to humanize the two boys, it simply wants to shed some more light and ask more questions to get a better understanding of why they did what they did.
I'll be honest when I say Detainment will not be everyone's' cup of tea and there's a lot of people who will be giving this movie 1 out of 10 purely based on the subject matter but for me personally, I can see the importance in a film like this. It shows just how easily someones life can become undone and the rippling effect that shows how a single murder can have a strong lasting effect on so many people. James Bulger wasn't the only boy who lost his life. Two other boys lives also ended that day.
Vincent Lambe did an incredible job considering such a heavy subject matter is at hand here. A very powerful film considering it's short running time.