Six-time Oscar nominated writer/director/producer Jim Sheridan has tackled a variety of films in his storied career, which includes My Left Foot, The Boxer, In The Name Of The Father, In America, The Field, Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ and numerous others. Sometimes, he has explored real life stories, others fictional, but in perhaps his most unusual film yet, he is blending both in the film that he has co-directed and written with David Merriman, as well as acting in a rare outing in front of the cameras. He has turned to a multi-decade obsession he’s had with the 1996 murder of French filmmaker Sophie Toscan Du Plantier at her cottage in Ireland. The officially unsolved Irish murder case had British journalist Ian Bailey as a prime suspect, but despite repeated attempts, it was never brought to trial in Ireland. And despite a 2019 conviction and 25 year sentence in France for Bailey in absentia (Ireland refused to extradite him), it remains a cold case to this day. Bailey died last year of a suspected heart attack, but Sheridan remains determined to somehow bring the case to a conclusion that perhaps it wasn’t Bailey. To do that, he and Merriman have blended this real-life case into a fictional jury trial that essentially, and unapologetically, is an homage to Sidney Lumet’s classic 1957 feature directorial debut 12 Angry Men, in which Henry Fonda memorably played the only juror voting not guilty against 11 others, who one by one are slowly convinced to not jump to the conclusion of guilt.
Sheridan has basically structured his film in the exact same way, nearly all of it taking place in the jury room presided over by Juror #1, the foreman played by Sheridan himself, who has never gotten over this particular murder, even finding out in the past that the victim has his personal phone number in her contacts but has no idea why. In fact, this is not the first time he has tackled the case, previously producing, directing and writing the 2021 mini-series Murder At The Cottage: The Search For Justice For Sophie.
With Re-Creation, he has joined 11 other actors in a largely improvised attempt to take on the divide between fact and fiction, adding new facts and questions of DNA in a case that has sparked documentaries and crime podcasts, but also dubious conclusions. Here, it is essentially trying to question lies in a documentary format to find truth in a fictional narrative, asking the question of the viewer: what shapes guilt or innocence?
It all starts out, like 12 Angry Men, with a vote taken by Sheridan as the foreman. And just as Fonda did in that film, it is Juror #8 played by Vicki Krieps who offers the sole not guilty vote, stunning her fellow jurors who were all quick to convict. Like climbing an imposing mountain, this juror must lecture them and try to convince at least one to join her in expressing some doubt, even offering to give up the fight if another vote comes out and she is still alone. She isn’t, and as the 89-minute drama continues, we see the personal lives and prejudices of other jurors exposed, their thought processes examined in the open, and even to the point of one particularly emotional outburst where Krieps’ juror throws a book in the face of another personally challenging her.
Details of the real life case, Bailey’s life and history, as well as other possible outcomes are brought up for discussion as more jurors change their votes with each official ballot taking place (the key structural divide Sheridan and Merriman add). In the end, it is us, the viewer, who is really a 13th juror in that room, to decide for ourselves what is the dividing line between guilt and innocence.
I think Lumet would be the first one applauding, as well as Reginald Rose, who wrote 12 Angry Men first as a live TV play and then the film. In a time where we are quick to label and to come to conclusions, Re-Creation, like 12 Angry Men, asks us to slow down and consider an alternative possibility. With an exceptional cast, particularly Krieps and John Connors, as well as brief interludes with Colm Meaney as Ian Bailey, you can only hope that Jim Sheridan himself finally has closure on the case that has haunted him for so long.
Producers are Fabrizio Maltese and Tina O’Reilly.
Title: Re-Creation
Festival: Tribeca – Spotlight Narrative
Sales Agent: Latido Films
Director/Screenwriter: Jim Sheridan , David Merriman
Cast: Vicki Krieps, Colm Meaney, Aidan Gillen, John Connors, Jim Sheridan, Helen Norton, Maja Juric, Gilbert K. Johnston, Elena Spautz, Brendan Convoy, Zahara Moufid, Tristan Heanu, Claire Johnston-Cauldwell, Brian Doherty.
Running Time: 1 hour and 29 minutes
