I consider Meryl Streep to be one of the greatest film actors of all time. It was because of this that I set a goal (in 2022) of viewing all her performances which I hadn’t seen already. A Cry In The Dark (1988) reaffirmed my opinion of her acting prowess. What an outstanding performance.
Streep portrays Lindy Chamberlain, a real mother who claimed that her baby was taken from a tent by a dingo… a wild Australian dog. Initially, there is a public outpouring of sympathy for Lindy and her husband Michael (Sam Neill). But soon their unconventional religious beliefs and their willingness to quickly, and simply, accept their newborn daughter’s death as being “God’s will” begin to invoke suspicion. Hastily gathered evidence soon makes the Chamberlains suspects of killing their daughter. In particular, Lindy comes off as cold and distant due to the comments she makes and her inability to “play” her emotions for the press and public. She is not a woman who is particularly likable, and Streep lets us see that while balancing a role where an unlikable person is also being accused of a crime she is not guilty of. Ms. Streep maintains her subtle Australian accent impeccably and delivers a stellar performance worthy of the Best Actress nod she was afforded.
Throughout the film director Fred Schepisi cuts away often to offices, bars, homes, etc. where Australians are obsessed with the trial and are all weighing in like spectators at a sporting event. The movie is as much about exposing the role that media plays in shaping public opinion as it is about the horrors of a criminal justice system that becomes derailed in its effort to appease that same public opinion. It is alarming that the very emotions that characterize us as human can be so stoked as to render us inhumane in a fervor for punishment over actual justice.
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