In a sentenceWe kept thinking about the girl reading Harry Potter
Sophie Lancaster (Abigail Lawrie) and Rob Maltby (Nico Mirallegro) are a couple whose affection is part of an ordinary life: Sophie reads Harry Potter, and the two want to be together without having to apologise for who they are. Violence interrupts that life. DC Steph Farley (Chanel Cresswell) and DC Mark Green (Dominic Carter) are the officers in a story that also includes Tracey Maltby (Sally Lindsay). The couple’s relationship remains central as the drama turns towards the crime committed against them.
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Paul Andrew Williams gives Sophie and Rob’s affection the attention it deserves. The supporting characters need more room, but this is a humane, upsetting crime drama whose tenderness makes the violence harder to bear.
Murdered for Being Different is a humane, upsetting crime drama, and its care for Sophie and Rob makes it worth watching. Director Paul Andrew Williams and writer Nick Leather understand that the couple’s affection needs to matter before the violence can mean anything beyond another dreadful crime. There is a risk with a title this blunt that the people will disappear beneath the lesson we are meant to learn. The film avoids that most successfully when it concentrates on their relationship.
Abigail Lawrie gives Sophie Lancaster a warmth that makes us want to spend time with her. Sophie’s Harry Potter reading is a useful detail because it gives her an interest with no obligation to explain the crime or represent anyone else. We were moved by that small pleasure; for a moment we could think about what she likes, away from the violence. Nico Mirallegro’s Rob Maltby helps make their affection convincing, giving us another reason to care about the ordinary life they share.
Paul Andrew Williams has the harder task of making violence count without letting it take possession of the film. The relationship gives those passages their force, and keeping the couple in our thoughts prevents the cruelty from becoming the only thing to remember. Navid Asghari’s music supports the sadness, though the central performances do most of the work. Against crime dramas that use a victim’s private life as a brief introduction to an investigation, this attention feels both welcome and necessary.
The limitation is how little room remains for the people around them. Chanel Cresswell as DC Steph Farley and Sally Lindsay as Tracey Maltby help give the story a wider human presence, but those supporting roles feel restricted beside the central couple. Nick Leather’s writing gives us enough to follow these people without making them equally vivid. We wanted more time with them, particularly in a drama asking us to look properly at people whom others have dismissed.
At 62 minutes, the film is concise enough to avoid wearing down its strongest material. That economy also sharpens the imbalance: the love story stays with us, while the surrounding crime drama feels less fully developed. A longer film would not automatically be a better one, but a little more space might have made those other lives count for more. As it stands, the tenderness of the leads is asked to carry a great deal.
There is nothing comfortable about recommending this for an evening’s viewing. Its violence is upsetting, and the affection that makes it worthwhile also makes it harder to sit through. Still, Sophie is allowed interests and a relationship that deserve attention in themselves, and that is where the film earns ours. Give it an evening when there is time afterwards to talk about something other than the crime.
Raeside finds the drama affecting and powerful, with an ending that honours Sophie’s defiance. She singles out the tender portrayal of Sophie and Rob’s love, which makes the violence all the more devastating.
Read the full review →Preece finds the drama powerful and argues that it makes a compelling case for embracing difference. She singles out Sophie’s Harry Potter reading as a humanizing touch and praises Robert’s defiant final walk.
Read the full review →
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