Waiting for a bus in London, an 18-year-old black youth is suddenly attacked by a pack of white men shouting racial slurs; he later dies in the hospital. Shot in a realistic documentary style with lots of handheld camera, claustrophobic compositions, and frequent jump cuts, this very atypical Masterpiece Theatre outing tells a harrowing story based on real events. Hugh Quarshie (A Respectable Trade) and Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Secrets and Lies) are utterly compelling as the grieving parents who fight against a callous, incompetent, and racist police bureaucracy in trying to secure some measure of justice for their lost son. Recommended. (T. Rich)
The Murder of Stephen Lawrence
WGBH, 120 min., not rated, VHS: $19.95 Volume 17, Issue 5
The Murder of Stephen Lawrence
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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