A NIGHTMARE WITH NO END
The show’s most stunning achievement is without a doubt its one-take style. Each hour-long episode is filmed in a single take which, as director Philip Barantini explains, “basically means that we press record on the camera, and we don’t stop until the very end of the hour”.
Tapping into today’s true crime zeitgeist, the series renders Jamie’s story more real than it actually is by imitating the cinéma vérité style of documentary filmmaking.
Each episode creates an immersive fly-on-the wall experience that is deeply compelling and uncomfortable. The lack of breaks forces viewers to feel as trapped as the characters, in an unfathomable spiral through confusion, guilt and shame.
This unease is heightened when the action is shot in claustrophobic spaces, such as inside the family van or a police interrogation room.
The soundtrack adds another layer of gritty true crime trauma, with random sirens, slamming doors and thumping discordant notes designed to mirror the inner turmoil of the characters.
As the story unfolds, it charts the devastating impact of Jamie’s crime on those around him. While Katie’s school friends struggle to process their incomprehensible grief, Jamie’s parents must also confront their son’s capacity for cruelty.
“We made him,” despairs Jamie’s mother (Manda Miller).
The unbroken style, in this regard, is important for understanding how broken this family is. Because there are no cuts, there is no escape from the nightmare.
Indeed, Jamie seems to have fallen through the cracks of the social institutions we relied on in the pre-internet age: The schooling system, the judiciary and the family itself.
