Laikals The greatest movie ever made..!

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Tyreece Hulme One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Patience Watson One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

kedarguru This documentary explores some compelling subjects around The Cheshire home invasion murders. 1) Police cover-up. The police were outside the residence for a full half hour and took no action until the criminals fled the home. They could have prevented most of the crime. Why? We can only speculate. 2) Death penalty. Death penalty is a controversial subject. One thing that's stressed in the movie, regardless of whether you're pro- or anti- , is that it's a very lengthy and expensive process. The system is broken. 3) Background of the murderers. We learn about their early lives, their motivations, etc. The conclusions that I've made: a history of mental illness and child abuse played a crucial role. They don't justify any of the crimes, but does bring into light the importance of treating mental illness and about the consequences of child abuse.We also learn, in as much detail as possible, how the entire incident played out. We also learn about the victims and victims' family. This is all through interviews with many people. It's tragic, emotional, and from a documentary film perspective it's informative, interesting and somewhat impartial.Last words: People who already know all about the Cheshire murders may not get the interviews and new information they expect. So if that's you, then maybe this documentary will be a disappointment. I'd never heard of these murders before, so it was all very interesting. There was not a moment in those 2 hours when I felt bored.

nogreatmischief This well-balanced film documents a horrific crime committed by 2 career criminals, one only 26 yrs. old and the mastermind of the subject crime.I won't give away details of the film as others have already described very eloquently. I disagree that there was nothing to be learned from this documentary. It made me think more about capital punishment, the adoption and foster system and abuse of children and how they might be helped before spiralling out of control. Valid points were made on both sides, the defense and prosecution. My heart goes out to all families related to this crime.

Michael_Elliott The Cheshire Murders (2013) **** (out of 4) Rather brutal and haunting documentary taking a look the brutal beating and murders of a family in Cheshire, CT. The story gained national attention as Dr. Petit was severely beaten while his wife and two young daughters were raped and eventually died from being set on fire. The culprits were two men who had just been released from prison and followed the mother and youngest girl from a grocery store. The documentary covers the family and their lives before this incident and of course we then take a look at the tragedy itself. This was the first time I had been given any great details on the subject and I must admit that it was quite ugly and brutal. I really understand why many people wouldn't want to watch anything involving a young child being raped and murdered so if people feel the subject matter is too strong then they certainly should stay away. The film is also pretty scary because it shows that you can be doing something as simple as getting groceries and not realize that there are a couple maniacs about to follow you home. The film gives us interviews with some lawyer attached to the case as well as family members of the victims as well as a couple people who knew the killers. There's also a portion of the film that follows Dr. Petit as he tries to get the state not to "kill off" the death penalty because this is what he wants the killers to get. The film is very forward and straight in regards to telling the story. I like how the director's really don't pick a side in regards to the death penalty but instead just shows the impact that everything has. I personally agreed that these two scumbags should die but then seeing what the family had to endure with a trial made me have second thoughts. THE CHESHIRE MURDERS is a terrific film but the subject matter is quite disturbing so it's certainly going to be up to the viewer on whether they can make it through.

The Jils Living one town away from Cheshire, I was actually looking forward to watching this film. Discovering a new perspective on a horrible crime that rocked our area. Instead I got a badly shot (really, how many tops of buildings and rain puddles do we need to see?), lethargically paced, incomplete snooze-fest.There are no actual new interviews with Dr. Petit, the lone survivor of this horrible home invasion. No cops speak. (This despite the dropped hint that they waited much to long to enter the house. That the filmmakers could not get one city or state cop on camera to discuss this is just lazy filmmaking.) Prosecutor? Nope. One of the jurors? Not a chance. Okay, then what about the Komisarjevsky and Hayes, on death row? What would they have to say? Would they be remorseful? No idea, they're not interviewed.Instead we mostly follow the parents and sister of Jennifer Hawke-Petit around. And while they are very nice people, and I feel such sympathy for their tragedy, they are not captivating subjects.About the only worthwhile interview in the entire film was that of Hayes defense attorney Thomas Ullmann. He was captivating, sincere and informative. The complete opposite was Komisarjevsky's attorney Walter Bansley III. He sort of made you want to take a shower after listening to him speak. He was wonderfully clueless of Dr. Petit's pain. Perhaps if the filmmakers had interviewed just these two men and let them each tell one side of the story from two very different perspectives, THAT would have been a film worth watching. But the film we were given was not. (A little shocked that HBO would air such a mess. But then the ratings were guaranteed.) As for structure, there is none. The film meanders all over the place, from the night of, to puddles, to court, to lingering shots of the tops of buildings in New Haven. Most filmmakers know there's a three act structure in story-telling for a reason. And if you break it you better have a damn good reason. Shoddy filmmaking is not one of them. This is filmmaking 101 at its worst.The information compiled in The Cheshire Murders would perhaps make a fine 30 minute short. But as a 2-hour film is was unforgivably boring. A Dateline special on NBC would have been better made.