Category Archives: Child abuse

2018, Amazon Prime, Basically Sad, British, Brother-Sister relations, Child abuse, Child Molestation, Dark, Dog episode, Emotional child abuse, Farm Life, Incest, Sheep Farmers, Tragedy, Violent

Dark River (2018)

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From Amazon Prime:

Following the death of her father, Alice (Ruth Wilson, “The Affair”) returns to her home village for the first time in 15 years to claim from her estranged brother (Mark Stanley, “Game of Thrones”) the family farm she believes is rightfully hers. From acclaimed filmmaker Clio Barnard, one of the premier new voices in British cinema, “Dark River” is a taut and powerful psychological drama.

From Amazon Prime you can stream this 1 hour 29 minute complete film.

In the TV series Luther the British actress Ruth Wilson played the diabolically clever villain Alice Morgan.  However, in “Dark River” as the daughter Alice Bell she takes on a diametrically opposite character which lets her show another side of her considerable acting ability.

Just as credible acting job is performed by Mark Stanley as Alice’s brother Joe Bell.  Joe and Alice are in conflict for the entire story.

However the most important and motivating theme is the reason why Alice fled the farm years ago. You learn early in the film that her father Richard Bell (played by Sean Bean of “Game of Thrones”) serially sexually molested her. Upon her return to the farm she can hardly bring herself to step into the house, let alone go upstairs where the abuse occurred.

Make no mistake, this story is a tragedy which means that you should not expect a happy ending.

But it is a really well done film.

2019, Abuse of Women, Acceptable Trash, Bad high school, Career Competition, Child abuse, Cold Cases, Complicated, Corny at times, Dancing, Detective, DNA, Drama, Emotional child abuse, Ethical struggles, Extramarital Affair, Fashion, Gay theme, Illegitimate Child, Mediocre, Melodrama, Mother-daughter relations, Murder, Narcissistic Personality, Netflix Streaming, Psychopath, Sex Scenes, Sociopath, Suspense, Uncategorized, Unscrupulous drive to power, Violent, Womanizing

What/If (2019)

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From IMDB:

An anthology series which tackles a different morality tale, and the ripple effect of a single decision that changes the trajectory of an entire life.

From Netflix you can stream 10 episodes of this soap opera. Each episode lasts between 40 and 60 minutes.

Anne Montgomery is the villain and most prominent feature of this acceptable trashy melodrama. She is played by Renee Zellweger (Bridget Jones) who looks awfully good for her 50 years. Of course it does not hurt her appearance to wear not only tons of makeup but to wear in each new appearance an astounding designer creation. Best of all you can hear her lisp for all ten episodes.

Harlequin Books, the leaders in trashy bodice-rippers, will send you a story plot and will pay you to fill in the details. Suppose, in similar fashion you want to write a Netflix Original screenplay. What should be in the plot to be current in 2019?  Here are some suggestions (where we were motivated by this marvelous series):

  • In each couple, one of the partners must be hiding some terrible, guilty secret which prevents that person from being truly open with the other person.
  • One of the couples must be a gay couple. They should engage in least some filmed threesome sexual activity.
  • For each couple there must be a third party who has some destructive relation to one of the partners.
  • Some character must be a homicidal sociopath.
  • Financial dealings must complicated by the fact that you can never know whom to trust.

Probably I could extend the list, but those selling points should be enough to tempt you to watch almost 10 hours of acceptable trash. As a further inducement to wasting all that time, I am happy to reveal that by the end of episode ten, all problems have been resolved. Moreover, the plot leaves an opening for another thrilling set of trashy episodes.

Thanks to former colleague Kellie Trainer for suggesting this binge-worthy series. She and I have a motto:

WE LOVE TRASH!

2012, Abandoned child, Bloody scenes, British, Child abduction and murder, Child abuse, Complicated, Creepy, Emotional child abuse, Father-daughter relations, Father-son relations, Ghost story, Grim, Horror, Merely acceptable, Mother-daughter relations, Mother-son relations, Murder by poison, Netflix Streaming, Orphans in Foster Care, Physical child abuse, Psychic Phenomena, Psychopath, Romance, Sadism, Suspense, Unmarried mother, Violent

The Secret of Crickley Hall (2012)

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From IMDB:

A year after their son goes missing, a family moves to Crickley Hall. When supernatural events begin to take place, Eve feels the house is somehow connected to her lost son.

From Netflix you can stream this 1.5 hour complete film.

Horror films can sometimes be silly or exaggerated. At best there is always some “manifestation” that is a bit over the top. However, this particular horror film successfully glues the paranormal to the gradual uncovering of the abuses of a madman.

And guess who plays the madman! Immediately I recognized the face but it took a while to register that the sadist Augustus Cribben is played by no other than the actor that plays DI Jimmy Perez in “Shetland”, namely Douglas Henshall. Possibly I took so long to make the connection because the two characters are complete opposites.

Eve Cleigh, the mother, is played by Suranne Jones (detective Rachel Bailey of “Scott and Bailey”).  Gabe Caleigh, the father, is played by Tom Ellis (who unfortunately plays the devil in “Lucifer”).

Because the scenes constantly shift between present and past, you have to equate the young character with the older counterpart. Moreover there are many characters.  So pay close attention to the good guys and the bad guys.

Give this film a “merely acceptable.”

2015, 2016, Abuse of Women, Adopted child, Adultery, Ambiguous Conclusion, Blackmail, Bloody scenes, British, British Mystery Series, Cancer theme, Child abuse, Child Molestation, Cold Cases, Contract Killing, Corruption, Courtroom scenes, Depression, DNA, DO NOT MISS, Dysfunctional Lives, Emotional child abuse, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Father-son relations, Gay theme, Incest, Male Prostitutes, Marital Infidelity, Mother-daughter relations, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Netflix Streaming, Pedophilia, Personal Betrayal, Police cover-up, Police Politics, Prostitutes, Racism, Rape, Revenge, Romance, Sex with underage girls, Sister-sister relations

Unforgotten (2015)

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From Netflix you can stream the first two seasons of this excellent British cold-case series.

For the 6 45-minute episodes of the first season the plot starts with:

A skeleton found in the cellar of a building prompts investigation from DCI Stuart and her colleague into the murder of a young man that could potentially span back thousands of years.

For the 6 45-minute episodes of the second season the plot starts with:

Cassie and Sunny join together to investigate when a body is found in a suitcase when the river Lea gets dredged.

Although there are 5 seasons, I don’t know where to find the last three seasons.

In each season the plot runs as follows: First and foremost the challenge is to identify the victim. That process leads to a list of names associated with the victim. Each such name carries its own story. Eventually all the personal stories become entangled as the detectives struggle to make sense of the crime.

British crime series strike me as one big repertory group. You see the same actors over and over in different roles. If you want a list of those actors that keep reappearing, “Unforgotten” provides that list. Couple the list with the “Unforgotten” discussion in IMDB just in case you know you have seen that actor before but you just can’t remember who it is.

Both seasons are binge-worthy. DO NOT MISS!

 

2018, Abduction, Abuse of Women, Acorn TV, Ambitious Dirty Tricks, Based on true facts, Bloody scenes, Brother-Brother relations, Child abuse, Cold Cases, Depression, Detective, Emotional child abuse, Ethical struggles, Extramarital Affair, Father-daughter relations, Forensics, Government cover-up, Mental Illness, Mildly Violent, Mother-daughter relations, Murder, Physical child abuse, Police Politics, Psychiatrists, Psychopath, Revenge, Serial Killer, Suspense, Swedish, Swedish Detective, Underdogs win

The Truth Will Out (2018)

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From IMDB:

After a long sick leave and recovery police detective Peter Wendel is back on duty. He is commissioned to form a new team to reopen unresolved murder cases, however he soon finds himself with a rather third rank and conflicting staff. Soon they are in the center of a new case. An unknown murderer claims that Sweden’s most infamous murderer is a fraud – that he never committed the murders he’s jailed for. High reaching implications are to be exposed, involving even the Swedish government.

From Acorn TV:

Detective Peter Wendel wants to create an elite team of investigators to crack cold cases. When the police receive a tip that Sweden’s most notorious serial killer is a fraud, and therefore eight killers might have gone free, Wendel gets his chance–but only the dregs of the force are available to work the case. Can his lowly group solve these high-profile crimes? Swedish with English subtitles.

From Acorn TV you can stream the 8 episodes of this complete story. Each episode lasts about 43 minutes. Swedish with English subtitles. Formerly Acorn TV advertised itself as “All Things British” but evidently their intent has changed.

Plaguing Peter Wendel throughout the episodes is the sorrow over his brother’s suicide. Because he refuses to accept the verdict of suicide he becomes so mentally ill and a bit violent and must be hospitalized. Now that he is released from care he faces the prejudice that he cannot do his job properly which only makes his job proving that the Minister of Justice erred in pronouncing a man guilty of serial killings.

His ragtag trio of helpers turn out to be diamonds in the rough, especially the older woman “administrator” who shows herself to be clever, very observant, and even capable of head butting.

What compelled me to binge watch was the injustice of the cover-up by the upper echelons and the efforts of a detected named Temo to discredit and remove Peter Wendel.

Because the pace is quite S L O W,  you might easily be tempted to stop watching after the first episode. Stick with the well crafted plot to see clever vindications.

 

1996, Abduction, Adopted child, Alcoholism, Amazon Prime, Assisted Suicide, Bloody scenes, British Mystery Series, Bullying, Child abuse, Cold Cases, Detective, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Drugs, Emotional child abuse, Ethical struggles, Failing Marriage, Father-son relations, Forensic pathologist, Gay Bashing, Homophobia, Jealousy, Mental Illness, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Prison, Psychological Drama, Revenge, Romance, Serial Killer, Sex Scenes, Sexual Tension, Sister-sister relations, Stepchild, Suicide, Suspense, Teenagers, Theft

Silent Witness (1996)

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From Amazon Prime:

Forensic pathologist Dr. Sam Ryan has an all-embracing, passionate notion of justice that can lead to trouble in her personal and professional lives, but to Sam, each dead body deserves the truth.

Believe it or not, this detective series which takes place in Cambridge, England has twenty-two (22) seasons.  In fact from Amazon Prime you can stream seasons 1 through 21. Season 1 offers 4 complete stories, each about 1.5 hours. In seasons from number 2 onward  each of the 4 stories consists of two shorter episodes (about 45 minutes) instead of one long episode.

Normally I don’t review until I have finished all the seasons but 21 seasons could take a long time to get through.  Unfortunately every story we have seen so far has been so good that we are tempted to binge watch. When wife Kathy wants to continue watching “NOW!”, that is a sign we have latched onto something worthwhile. “Law and Order” was another example of years of watchable entertainment.

Amanda Burton, born and raised in Northern Ireland, plays the stunning and determined forensic pathologist Dr. Sam Ryan (yes, HER name is Sam). Many other actors survive from season to season but Burton is the shining star.

Running through the seasons are her relations with her sister and working colleagues and her love affairs. As is often the case in detective stories (she is not a member of the police department) there is the usual conflict of her personal life with her professional life. An added complication is that she gets emotionally involved not only with her cases but also with various colleagues with whom she has serious differences of opinion regarding her cases.

FIRST AMENDED REVIEW: Sam last appears in Season 8 episodes 1 and 2 entitled “A Time To Heal”. She leaves the job eventually a young woman takes her place.  From then on the series goes somewhat downhill: first the plots start to look like any old American gangster story, and secondly the episode descriptions found on the Amazon web site and the descriptions that you download with the episodes are misplaced. We stopped watching at that point.

SECOND AMENDED REVIEW: My advice is now to continue with Season 8. When a story seems boring or mediocre, just skip to the next story. Remember each story consists of 2 episodes. It won’t be long before the stories become better. As of this amendment I am on Season 11 and it is dynamite.

THIRD AMENDED REVIEW: In Season 8 Episode 5 we first meet Dr. Nikki Alexander as a young woman just starting her career as a forensic pathologist.  From then on through all of Season 22 she remains in the series whereas almost all the other actors are replaced.  For the 15 seasons you actually see the actress Emilia Fox age as do the other actors. This character is wonderful to the very end of the series.

Sometimes grim but always engaging drama! DO NOT MISS!

2018, Abduction, Action Film, Action Hero, Amazon Prime, Amnesia, Bloody scenes, Brother-Sister relations, Car Chase, Child abuse, Complicated, Creepy, Detective, Disturbing Image, Emotional child abuse, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Father-son relations, Forensics, Improbable details, Invincible Hero, Kidnapping, Mad scientist, Marital Infidelity, Mental Illness, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Physical child abuse, Psychopath, Revenge, Serial Killer, Sometimes seems silly, Suspense, Thriller, Torture, Unbelievably smart detective, Violent

Absentia (2018)

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From Amazon Prime:

Centers on an FBI agent who disappears without a trace while hunting a serial killer.

From IMDB:

After being declared dead in absentia, an FBI agent must reclaim her family, identity and innocence when she finds herself the prime suspect in a string of murders.

From Amazon Prime you can stream the 10 episodes of this one season Amazon Prime Original series. Each episode lasts about 45 minutes.

With so many categories involved, it is hard to pin down a short characterization: suspense, police detectives, FBI, serial killers, mad scientist, kidnapping, innocent suspect trying to find the truth.

Emily Byrne, who is played by Stana Katic (Kate Becket of “Castle” fame), is central to the story. Emily, an FBI agent, has been missing for 6 years. Her supposed killer, Conrad Harlow, is released from jail when she mysteriously reappears suffering from amnesia. Meanwhile her husband, FBI agent Nick Durand, has remarried Alice Durand. Nick and Alice are raising Flynn, Nick’s son by Emily. Needless to say, Nick will remain conflicted about a choice between Emily and Alice for all ten episodes.

Emily’s energies are devoted for all ten episodes in finding out what ever happened to her. She has nightmare flashbacks to being placed in a sealed glass tank that regularly fills with water to almost drown her. Unfortunately Harlow is murdered and Emily is blamed. More murders ensue for which Emily is again blamed. For the rest of the story Emily is on the run from the Boston Police Department and the FBI in a desperate attempt to learn the truth and clear her name. Emily’s father and brother become involved. Nick teams up with a BPD detective to do the investigation.

Before you devote yourself to 10 episodes, there are some warnings:

  • At least the first time you see that torture tank you will almost certainly cringe. That tank is a persistent fixture in the story.
  • Emily is an unbelievable superwoman: she leaps over walls, she runs for long distances, seeming she hardly ever eats or sleeps, she always invents incredibly clever solutions for each crisis. In other words, just suspend disbelief.
  • Similarly there are just too many suddenly convenient discoveries, clues, escapes, etc. Again just suspend disbelief. But it did help to have a happy (if somewhat lame) ending.

Having warned you, nevertheless I breathlessly binge-watched all ten episodes.

2017, Acceptable for teenagers, Alcoholism, Blackmail, Bloody scenes, Brother-Brother relations, Car Chase, Child abuse, Complicated, Conspiracy, Corruption, Detective, DNA, DO NOT MISS, Drug Dealers, Dysfunctional Lives, Ethical struggles, Extramarital Affair, Father-son relations, Gay theme, Homophobia, Murder, Murder Investigation, Netflix Streaming, Norwegian, Norwegian Crime Story, Norwegian Detective, Personal Betrayal, Police Corruption, Suicide, Uncle-Nephew relations, Uncle-Niece relations

Borderliner (2017)

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From IMDB:

To protect his family, police detective Nikolai covers up a murder case. But when his co-investigator Anniken suspects foul play, he is trapped in a dangerous game on duty, blurring the line between right and wrong.

From Netflix you can stream Season 1 of this Norwegian production which consists of 8 episodes each lasting about 45 minutes.

As Sir Walter Scott wrote in his play Marmion: “Oh! What a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.”  Nikolai, a police detective on leave, visits his widower policeman brother Lars and Lars’ two children just when a suicide victim is found hanging in a nearby woods.  Special Agent Anniken arrives on scene because the suicide is really a murder and Nikolai is ordered to join in the case.

Not until the eighth episode will you learn the truths of the story But lies begin when Lars confesses to Nikolai that he, Lars, killed the man (who was a drunk and child abuser). Nikolai decides to cover up the murder and from that point that lie leads to an entire stream of lies.

Complication one is that Lars and many others (especially the police themselves) are involved in the drug trade.

Complication two is that Nikolai is a closeted gay policeman, which seems to be frowned upon in Norway.

Things just get messier and messier until the final somewhat satisfying conclusion.

Throughout the focus is on Nikolai’s relentless pursuit of the truth combined with his guilty complicity (and the brooding looks to go with his regrets.)

Somehow the Norwegians just get it right! DO NOT MISS!

2015, Abduction, Abuse of Women, Belgian, Blackmail, Bloody scenes, Child abduction and murder, Child abuse, Child Molestation, Contract Killing, Corruption, Could Be Hard To Watch, Danish, Danish Detectives, Dark, Dutch, Emotional child abuse, Extramarital Affair, Failing Marriage, Forensics, French, German, Greed, Grim, Grisly, Incest, International thriler, Made For TV, Marital Infidelity, MHz Choice, Murder, Nudity, Pedophilia, Physical child abuse, Polish, Pornographic Scenes, Prostitutes, Rape, Revenge, Serial Killer, Sex Scenes, Sex trafficking, Slave trafficking, Sociopath, Spousal Abuse, Suspense, Terminal Disease, Torture, Valium appropriate, Violent, Wife Beating

The Team (2015)

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From MHz Choice:

Lars Mikkelsen (‘Borgen’, ‘1864’) stars as the leader of a joint Danish-German-Belgian investigative team tasked with solving a series of murders in this gripping crime thriller from the writers of ‘The Eagle’.

What makes this one season of 8 episodes streamed from MHz Choice so gripping for me is that the villain Marius Loukauskis  is so vile and so cynically amoral that I could not wait to get to the conclusion. Unfortunately MHz Choice doled out the episodes week after week. Finally you can see now all the episodes at once, which is why I waited to recommend and review this excellent series.

Because the “Team” is assembled from several countries (even though the production is from Denmark), you will hear many languages: French, English, German, and others. As usual they are accompanied by subtitles.

Each member of the team has their own personal story to tell. Often that story is quite unhappy.

WARNING: If you are squeamish, DO NOT WATCH this series (which is not acceptable for young people, let alone lots of adults).

2012, Abduction, Abortion, Abuse of Women, Adopted child, Adultery, Arson, Asperger's Syndrome, Bloody scenes, Child abduction and murder, Child abuse, Child Molestation, Complicated, Crime, Dark, Detective, DO NOT MISS, Dysfunctional Lives, Emotional child abuse, Extramarital Affair, Failing Marriage, Family Conflict, Forensics, MHz Choice, Mildly Violent, Mother-daughter relations, Murder, Murder by poison, Murder Investigation, Pedophilia, Police Culture, Police Politics, Psychopath, Revenge, Serial Killer, Spousal Abuse, Suicide, Suspense, Swedish, Swedish crime series, Swedish Detective

Camilla Läckberg (2012)

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From MHz Choice:

Camilla Läckberg’s beloved characters return in a TV series based on three of her bestselling mystery novels. Set in Fjällbacka on the west coast of Sweden, Detective Patrik Hedström and his fiancée, the novelist Erica Falck, become enmeshed in complex crimes affecting all the residents of the tiny coastal community.

Jean Edith Camilla Läckberg  is a Swedish crime writer. As of the early-2010’s, her work has been translated into at least 40 languages in 60 countries.

Our last review was for “The Hidden Child” which was a stand-alone presentation streamed from MHz Choice of one of Camilla Läckberg’s stories.

This review of a series streamed from MHz Choice contains 3 more stories from Camilla Läckberg:

“The Preacher”: presented in one 1.5 hour episode.

“The Stonecutter”: presented in two 1 hour episodes.

“The Stranger”: presented in two 1 hour episodes.

Amazon sells all 8 books of the author’s “Fjällbacka ” series.

As with “The Hidden Child” the stories are grim, and the inter-personal relationships important. Another DO NOT MISS!