Detainment

First off, these two child actors were phenomenal. I hope that-- if they are aware of the controversy around this movie-- none of it falls on them. I wish them the best of luck with their acting careers.

What to do with this movie? As with most true crime, there's always an ethical question lingering in the background of whether it was worth it to tell this story for an audience to consume it. This case was unique in that these two kids were tried as adults, and if you were to only ever see that on paper, you'd probably have a lot of questions, or you'd probably dismiss everyone involved as monsters.

And that's what feels like the question proposed to you, the audience; are these kids monsters and horrible people?

My answer is: yeah. I did not have much empathy for them. They both knew what they were doing in this tragedy, so they both need to pay the price. It's a story of those terrible fringe, edge cases where the parties involved fall right on the inner outlines of crime and punishment, and we get to examine what happens to people like them. What factors were involved, what their mentality was, what the crime was, etc..

While others touch on the point that little-to-no-attention was given to the victim or his family, to me it feels like the whole movie did: with the flashbacks in place and the alluding to how many people could've stepped in to do something about this, it feels like the victim's story was turned into a message of awareness: be aware if your kids are exhibiting this type of behavior, be aware if they are hanging out with others doing these types of things, be aware that this exists, because if you don't, we might lose another child.

I hope the worst is behind Denise. I hope these two boys seek help. And may James Bulger rest in peace.

Greetings again from the darkness. Evil personified. That is the only possible way to describe 10 year old boys Robert Thompson and Jon Venables. In February 1993, the British boys skipped school and spent the day doing typically mischievous activities around the local shopping center. Typical that is until they abducted 2 year old James Bulger.

This is writer-director Vincent Lambe's 4th short film, and it's based on the disturbingly true story of the abduction-torture-murder of toddler James by the two young boys. The film draws directly from the actual tapes of interviews/interrogations once the boys were identified from the grainy security footage. This dramatization includes the pleas of innocence from the boys, as well as the reactions of both their parents and the police officers. The scenes depicting the questioning of the boys is powerful, and the scenes of the 3 boys together is more than most of us can bear, despite little of the crime being shown (thankfully).

Young actors Ely Solan (Jon) and Leon Hughes (Robert) are both extraordinary in their performances. Director Lambe deftly applies judgment in what is shown on screen and what instead corrupts our thoughts. It's heart-breaking to see what the parents of these boys must endure, but it's beyond our comprehension to imagine what Baby James Bulger's parents must have endured. The boys were tried as adults in 1993, and both subsequently released from incarceration and given assumed identities for their own protection. If somehow Lambe's short film isn't disturbing enough, it's pretty simple to get the full report of what the boys inflicted on that poor child. Evil personified.

Chilling and disturbing short film on the murder of James Bulger. Based on actual interviews the film depicts the narration of the 10 year old murderers as they were interrogated by the police. The lies, confusion and tragedy are grippingly portrayed as the child psychopaths are eventually brought to justice. Good directing and stellar acting especially by the young actors portraying the killers make this one of the standout shorts. The only flaw of the movie is the horrid details of the crime are not fully touched on leaving the film wanting and hanging as to the gravity of the crime and what makes it one of the most horrendous in history. Dark and unforgettable, "Detainment" is a glimpse of evil on earth and the all too painful reality of it.

I thought Detainment was a remarkable achievement, a compelling and disturbing evocation of those events, which I know all too well and remain deeply troubling even after 25 years.

The film was authentic and brilliantly cast especially the two boys who perpetrated the killing of James Bulger. While I could imagine some would recoil from the idea of dramatising such a terrible crime, I thought the film was both unflinching and also sensitive to the ongoing trauma.

If audiences are willing, they will find in the film the truth of the two boys and their inescapable smallness - they were just ten, after all - which only serves to make the incident as unfathomable now as it was in 1993.

As Detainment I think seeks to explore, even though the killing is painfully difficult to comprehend we have a responsibility, not only to the victim and the perpetrators but also to ourselves, to try and make sense of what happened. In that way the film avoids prurience and shows us two boys of primary school age who are not the evil monsters of popular imagination but only human after all.

I hope the film finds the wider audience it very much deserves.

-- David James Smith (author, 'The Sleep of Reason: The James Bulger Case')

First review on imdb. I watched the director on Irish prime time discussing the controversy that arise after the oscar nomination, and I was apprehensive to watch after the backlash that ensued. I have read both parents autobiography and although I think it's impossibe to feel the entirety of their pain, however you get a sense of just how disturbing/traumatizing those weeks after must have been. This short portrays that nauseating feeling very well. This film simply documents the words that came from boys mouths, nothing else. It does not exploit the situation for any entertainment. There is no nature vs nurture debate. Unbiased and real. 9/10