A Cry in the Dark (1988)
…………………………………………………
A Cry in the Dark Movie Review
A Cry in the Dark is a 1988 Australian courtroom drama film directed by Fred Shepisi and starring Sam Neill and Meryl Streep. It’s a flawed, but overall effective movie.
………………………………………………….
“The dingo took my baby!“
…………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………..
This film follows a real-life case of a baby being stolen and killed by a dingo in the Australian Outback. It’s a very serious, tragic story that happened and the trial and the case lasted for decades before finally being resolved very recently. And the movie is like the case itself – overly singular and thus not particularly relatable on a bigger scale of things, but still very sad.
My main problem with the movie is its sole focus on Lindy Chamberlain which left little room for her husband and just the entire subject matter could have been explored more deeply instead of going about it in the standard procedural manner.
But there’s no denying that Meryl Streep is very good here. I continue to dislike her personally, but her Australian accent is pretty good here and she brought it emotionally and in terms of subtlety. But Sam Neill is also excellent and I wish we got more of him in the end product, but that led to a superbly developed, complex main female character whose inner turmoil was well explored without a doubt.
A Cry in the Dark is powerful in its first and third act, but the second one left a lot to be desired in terms of sophistication, thematic richness and depth. But the last part is inspirational in its fight for justice angle and the beginning is also beautifully shot and suspenseful.
…………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………..
The film makes use of the Outback stupendously and I loved its exploration of the dingo and how dangerous it can truly be to humans and how little is actually known about it. That was so well done and of course the courtroom drama elements are terrific with strong dialogue and emotional levity to those scenes. I just wanted better direction and much more depth and sophistication that this story most definitely needed.
A Cry in the Dark is very well acted, wonderfully shot and very effective in its first and third act, but the second act left a lot to be desired. The courtroom drama elements are excellent and the main character is so well developed, but the husband needed more screen time and even though it has emotional levity, the movie needed more depth and sophistication in its handling of this real-life story.
