In May 1993, three eight-year-old boys were brutally murdered in West Memphis, Arkansas. It didn’t take long for local police to arrest three teenage boys, Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelly Jr. Around the same time documentary filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky picked up the case for HBO, covering the case in great detail, and even managing to film the trials. The release of Paradise Lost in 1996 struck a chord with Americans who were shocked at the malpractice of the Arkansas justice system, and believed the three boys that were charged to be innocent of the crime.
This inspired citizens to take action and support the boys with appeals and funding greater investigation into the murders, which was the subject of Berlinger & Sinofsky’s Paradise Lost 2: Revelations in 1999. With the appeals lost, the battle was far from over, and with Echols facing the death sentence time was running out.
Picking up ten years later, Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory explores the continued plight of the ‘Free the West Memphis 3’ movement, and highlights how they have funded new types of DNA investigation to be brought into the case to prove the innocence of Echols, Baldwin, and Misskelly Jr.
Meanwhile this new evidence has significantly changed the opinion of those deeply involved with the case and allowed for one final appeal, giving the three men their last chance at proving their innocence.
This inspired citizens to take action and support the boys with appeals and funding greater investigation into the murders, which was the subject of Berlinger & Sinofsky’s Paradise Lost 2: Revelations in 1999. With the appeals lost, the battle was far from over, and with Echols facing the death sentence time was running out.
Picking up ten years later, Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory explores the continued plight of the ‘Free the West Memphis 3’ movement, and highlights how they have funded new types of DNA investigation to be brought into the case to prove the innocence of Echols, Baldwin, and Misskelly Jr.
Meanwhile this new evidence has significantly changed the opinion of those deeply involved with the case and allowed for one final appeal, giving the three men their last chance at proving their innocence.
In my review of Paradise Lost 2 I stated that the sequel retroactively made the first film better, and the same can be said about Paradise Lost 3. This third and final documentary feels like a triumphant home run that is a beacon of hope for all of those that face injustice. It takes a step back and looks at the impact the previous two films had culturally and how they raised awareness of prejudiced witch hunts and miscarriages of justice in modern America under the guise of Christian values.
Something I did not expect was for Paradise Lost 3 to really strike me on an emotional level. Seeing Echols, Baldwin, and Misskelly Jr. having grown up behind bars and now in their mid-thirties was heart-breaking. How they have changed, and perhaps even more upsetting is the ways they haven’t. These men’s lives effectively ended in 1993 when they were teenagers and the world has passed them by, stealing those formative years away. Misskelly Jr. in particular I found particularly hard to watch, mentally no different than his seventeen-year-old self, and simply having accepted that this is now his life and will likely continue to be despite his protested innocence.
Where Paradise Lost 2 focused in on Mark Byers, stepfather of the victim Christopher Byers, who had become labelled as the true killer by the general public following the first Paradise Lost, and whom leaned into that public hatred to appear even more villainous in the sequel. The third film sees him having changed his mind following the new DNA evidence surfacing and campaigning for the freedom of the West Memphis Three.
Instead, the new evidence points towards Terry Hobbs, stepfather of the victim Steve Branch, and we see him attempt to control the narrative in very different ways to how Byers did.
Something I did not expect was for Paradise Lost 3 to really strike me on an emotional level. Seeing Echols, Baldwin, and Misskelly Jr. having grown up behind bars and now in their mid-thirties was heart-breaking. How they have changed, and perhaps even more upsetting is the ways they haven’t. These men’s lives effectively ended in 1993 when they were teenagers and the world has passed them by, stealing those formative years away. Misskelly Jr. in particular I found particularly hard to watch, mentally no different than his seventeen-year-old self, and simply having accepted that this is now his life and will likely continue to be despite his protested innocence.
Where Paradise Lost 2 focused in on Mark Byers, stepfather of the victim Christopher Byers, who had become labelled as the true killer by the general public following the first Paradise Lost, and whom leaned into that public hatred to appear even more villainous in the sequel. The third film sees him having changed his mind following the new DNA evidence surfacing and campaigning for the freedom of the West Memphis Three.
Instead, the new evidence points towards Terry Hobbs, stepfather of the victim Steve Branch, and we see him attempt to control the narrative in very different ways to how Byers did.
The final twenty minutes stand as a testament to the importance of great documentary filmmaking, because whilst the Paradise Lost films are not the sole reason for securing the freedom of the West Memphis Three, they did play a significant part in it and having the cameras in the room for that moment is so incredible considering that Berlinger and Sinofsky were there from the very beginning.
Berlinger & Sinofsky’s non-intrusive approach to filmmaking has been one of the most effective elements of the Paradise Lost films and three is no exception. It allows you to just see how people react to elements of the case unprompted and not guided by the directors’ inherent bias.
The Paradise Lost trilogy are essential viewing for any true crime fan, as well as anyone with an interest in documentary filmmaking. They have been a cultural phenomenon and have led to greater scrutiny over police procedure and helped to save three lives in the process. Whilst the battle for the West Memphis Three isn’t yet over, their freedom has been secured and that’s in a large part due to what these three films have achieved.
Berlinger & Sinofsky’s non-intrusive approach to filmmaking has been one of the most effective elements of the Paradise Lost films and three is no exception. It allows you to just see how people react to elements of the case unprompted and not guided by the directors’ inherent bias.
The Paradise Lost trilogy are essential viewing for any true crime fan, as well as anyone with an interest in documentary filmmaking. They have been a cultural phenomenon and have led to greater scrutiny over police procedure and helped to save three lives in the process. Whilst the battle for the West Memphis Three isn’t yet over, their freedom has been secured and that’s in a large part due to what these three films have achieved.