In 1993 three young boys went missing and were later found murdered. A short time later three teenagers were arrested and charged for the murders after one of the teens, a kid with an IQ of 72, confessed that they had killed the three boys after twelve hours of interrogation with no parents of lawyers present.

The teens were tried with the prosecution asserting that the killings were part of a satanic ritual and the teens were found guilty despite evidence they may not have been involved and a potential alternate suspect who was not pursued.

This is exactly the type of difficult subject matter that Canadian film maker Atom Egoyan excels at making.

Whether you think them guilty or innocent the story of the West Memphis Three was big news in the 1990s. I remember it and I was barely a teen when it happened. Atom Egoyan is the type of film maker who can tell a story that has some moral ambiguity, some dislikable good guys, and likeable bad guys. Basically the type of movie that you’ll have a plethora of feelings about as you walk out the door.

Egoyan has reunited with some of his more frequent collaborators including Bruce Greenwood and Elias Koteas, as well as Colin Firth. Also joining them are Reese Witherspoon, Stephen Moyer, Mireille Enos, Dane DeHaan, and Alessandro Nivola. The film had it’s premiere at TIFF in September and will go into wide release on 24th January 2014.

Here is the official poster: