The Cheshire Murders (2013)

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

hyped garbage

Beautiful, moving film.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

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.

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.

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.

After I finished watching this film, I kept asking myself 'what was its purpose?' It didn't give us any new insight into this horrendous crime, it just made us remember what many are trying to forget.It scared me all over again and I found myself checking the locks and closing the windows. I agree that it was just lazy film making and not up to the documentaries that HBO has sponsored in the past. No one of any real importance allowed themselves to be interviewed except the creepy defense attorney's who, let's face it, LOVE any PRESS! It was like an NYU Film grad went to the library and edited all the news clips and still shots they could find. If you're going to take on such a sensitive subject of life and death, do it so we learn something from it...