Murdered for Being Different

Murdered for being Different is a true life drama about the killing of young Sophie Lancaster (Abigail Lawrie) who was just 20 years old.

Sophie and her boyfriend Robert Maltby (Nico Mirallegro) were attacked in 2007 in their home town of Bacup in Lancashire by a gang of young thugs. Their crime was that they dressed up as Goths and this alternative lifestyle provoked them.

Sophie was kicked to death as she tried to defend Robert who himself suffered serious injuries.

As Robert's mother tries to comprehend what has happened to her son and tell him that Sophie is not going to recover from her injuries the police investigate and try to coax Michael Gorman a witness to the attack to tell them who the culprits were.

The attack is incomprehensible, we are used to seeing people being randomly picked on for being coloured or gay but these are people who just liked wearing dark clothing and make up. It is not even Goths are new, I knew several when I was a teenager and that was 3 decades ago. The only radio station you get to hear The Cure these days is a golden oldies one.

It is a harrowing drama but despite that it really had little that was new to offer. It was well acted but it did trod a predictable path. The police wants the witness to talk as they put the pieces together, the cowardly thugs threaten him with reprisals.

I was so impressed by the acting - especially the young actors and especially Reiss Jarvis playing Michael Gorman: he was a naturally brilliant actor and seemed to play the role effortlessly - every glance and shrug perfect. This is someone to watch. All the other young actors were excellent as well.

The weaving of the storyline was very powerfully and creatively done. It wasn't patronising, but could have done with a bit more time to expand some of the storyline/viewpoints.

It is not often that I watch a film about a topic as challenging as this and see a masterful combination of skills across the board.

The directing/editing and writing were also so good.

Murdered for Being Different was a docudrama about the death of Sophie Lancaster, a young woman who was beaten to death just for being a goth. The docudrama focused on both the relationship between Sophie (Abigail Lawrie) and her boyfriend, Rob (Nico Mirallegro) and the guilt the one witness, Michael (Reiss Jarvis) suffered.

Murdered for Being Different was directed by Paul Andrew Williams, the director of the excellent indie film London to Brighton and gave the Murdered for Being Different an almost documentary look due to the use of handheld cameras. It was well-acted as a project like this needed to be and the storyline about Michael and the criminal investigation was the one that held my interest the most since he had to choose between his friends and doing the right thing.

A wonderful BBC Drama based on tragic true events. It conveys the problems of our modern society, whilst presenting the idea of fighting for who you are; however, I do believe what would make this even better is to show some of the perspectives from Sophie's parents, but presides from that, this is definitely worth a watch.

Hate crimes unfortunately always have been, are and will be. This docu-drama goes straight to the point - it depicts one painfully tragic case without any unnecessary pathos or moralising. Actors were great, especially the main couple and that boy. And to those sadistic - and thankfully properly punished - teenage @!#$%& (I don't know a word that expresses the level of contempt and disgust I feel for them), let me quote the judge's final words: 'At least wild animals, when they hunt in packs, have a legitimate reason for so doing, to obtain food. You have none and your behaviour on that night degrades humanity itself".