Larry Oliver Film Reviews

  Contains spoilers. Verbatim dramas, in which the dialogue is taken entirely from recorded transcripts of testimony, have become more common in the last two decades. The intention is to place the audience in a room where individuals are subject to questioning. We are encouraged to make up our own mind about a person’s version of events and to ask the question, ‘how could they do it?’ Whether it is to convince the UK Parliament to authorise the military invasion of a country or else mishandle an investigation into the murder of a black British teenager, individuals are shown to be weak, corrupt or in possession of false logic. Verbatim dramas examine the ways in which people account for themselves, but they also encourage the audience to question methods of accountability. How can police disciplinary boards allow suspended officers to return to active duty after being convicted of a crime when a civil servant convicted of that same crime would be dismissed? How can a politician a...