Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory (2011) on Netflix
NR20112h 1mCrimeDocumentary
Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley were convicted of three child murders in West Memphis, Arkansas. Their lawyers hire forensic scientists to test DNA the trials never tested.
- Netflix3.8/5
- IMDb8.0/1011,693 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes100%
Trailer
Plot summary
In May 1993, three young boys were found murdered in West Memphis, Arkansas. The killings set off a reaction that ended in the convictions of three teenagers, Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, on evidence their supporters call questionable. The three have maintained their innocence through the years that followed, and their case drew a movement of people working to clear their names while the state has shown no willingness to admit it might have been wrong. Echols's defense team brings in forensic scientists to collect DNA and other material that went untested at the 1994 trials. Prosecutors and the victims' families stand against the campaign as the men seek a new trial.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory (2011)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- After the West Memphis Three were released on August 19, the filmmakers put the film back by two months so the series could end definitively and reach theaters, which might let it qualify for Best Documentary Feature at the 84th Academy Awards. Interviews with the freed men began August 20.
SPOILER
In August 2011, prosecutors and defense lawyers reached a plea deal allowing the three men to leave prison on the condition they plead guilty but maintain their innocence; they reluctantly accepted and walked free after 18 years and 78 days.
