A Trailer for “Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory”

Believe it or not, one of the films I named on our Shouts From the Back Row podcast about the most anticipated movies of 2012 is already here. Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory, a documentary that chronicles the final chapter in the hugely controversial West Memphis Three case, will be premiering on HBO tonight. Of course, I have a vested interest in this case since I wrote a “Robin’s Underrated Gems” column about the original Paradise Lost this past summer, and was stunned when the West Memphis Three were suddenly and unexpectedly released from prison only a month later. Paradise Lost 3 was already in the can by this point, but of course, this new development forced the filmmakers to do some extensive last-minute re-editing and postpone the film’s release. Advanced buzz for Paradise Lost 3 has been overwhelmingly positive as it has just drawn a favourable review from Roger Ebert and should be considered a top contender for “Best Documentary” at the Academy Awards this year (though some people are doing everything in their power to prevent that). Unfortunately, I do not get HBO, so I will have to wait a little bit longer before I can finally see this film for myself and share my thoughts. In the meantime, here’s a trailer for Paradise Lost 3, and watching it, it’s quite jarring to see that these three individuals who were just teenagers when they were sent to prison are now approaching 40.