Before discussing Detainment, it is almost mandatory to add a disclaimer: this movie, and the following review, are not meant to lessen or invalidate the grief and trauma James Bulger’s family has suffered. It is a statement Detainment’s director, Vincent Lambe, has made multiple times. As a film which seeks to change the societal narrative surrounding the murder of James Bulger, backlash to Detainment was inevitable.
But some the backlash is misplaced, and its unintended consequence is a hindrance to our understanding of what could make children so abhorrently violent.
For its attempt at furthering this understanding, Detainment is worth watching.
But that’s not the only thing that makes Detainment a worthy film.
Its acting, nuance, subtlety, and judgement-free approach are all facets that prove it is deserving of its Academy Award nomination.
DISOBEDIENCE REVIEW: POWERFUL PERFORMANCES MAKE THIS FILM WORK
In particular, the two children charged with portraying Robert Thompson and Jon Venables in this nuanced way had an almost insurmountable task.
Ely Solan and Leon Hughes, who play Venables and Thompson respectively, are naturally complex and bring to their roles a different perspective we, as a society, have tried to ignore.
Based on the interview transcripts from the interrogations, Detainment has a very specific goal:
To tell the story of the interrogation of Venables and Thompson like never before.
BLACKKKLANSMAN: THE MOVIE WE NEED: POIGNANT, FUNNY, RELEVANT AS HELL
It not only achieves this goal, but does so in the kind of artful way only a movie of this calibre can do.
There are some who have said there is no art to Detainment – that because the movie is based on transcripts there is no artistic merit to the film.
But that is as far from the truth as you can get.
Detainment may only be 30 minutes, but those 30 minutes pack an emotional gut punch.
Not only for the horrific, heart rendering murder of an innocent baby boy, but also for the complexities that exist behind the mask of evil worn by these children themselves.
By showing Venables and Thompson as humans, and therefore complex, Detainment opens up a dialogue necessary to understanding this kind of abhorrent violent offence.
Complex does not mean good, complex simply means that these children are more than one thing; childlike, self-aware, liars, afraid, defensive, chilling and much more.
Where most movies take true-stories and tease from them a cinematic kernel to build upon, Detainment tells us a story we have never heard before, true to its origins.
That there is such a backlash to Detainment proves, perhaps, that we aren’t ready, willing, or able to understand the story behind the murder of James Bulger.
But we should be – because without understanding there can be no change.
After all, storytelling is one method of fighting for justice, truth, and reconciliation.
Detainment is a small but powerful step in that direction.