The story of parental hysteria that put kindergarten workers in prison In 1995, HBO released The Indictment: The McMartin Trial (or The McMartin Trial).
The film tells a true story that has become a crazy private example of the hysteria raging in the 1980s and 90s in America. The Satanic Panic was based on the idea that there are people and groups of people using children. This topic is now actively wandering in the minds of people, only changed the terminology. . .
In 1983, the mother of one of the boys who attended a private kindergarten, went to the police with a statement that her child was corrupted by the staff of the children’s institution.
The police apparently also did not mind succumbing to hysteria and quite easily launched a large-scale trial against the McMartin family, who owned and directly worked in the kindergarten.
Many children spoke during the lengthy trial and detailed what had happened to them. It was hard not to believe the naive children who do not understand much in such matters.
The McMartin family looked like monsters for years. However, in the end, all charges against them were dropped and they were found completely innocent of all charges that were brought against them during the seven years of proceedings.
How? How is that possible? Why would so many parents blame the McMartins if there was no motive for material gain behind them? Why would young children tell horror stories when they didn’t really happen? Sometimes life is much crazier than any fiction. The history of the trial of the McMartin family is just such a case.
The film “Indictment: The McMartins Trial” was released 5 years after the end of this complex, confusing and sensational trial.
The film was directed by Mick Jackson, who had previously directed the legendary drama Bodyguard in 1992. The screenwriter was Abby Mann, who worked on one of the best court dramas in film history, the Nuremberg Trials (1962). And the main roles were played by James Woods ("Once Upon a Time in America", "Casino"), Mercedes Ruel ("The Fisher King", "Jia"), Henry Thomas ("E.T.", "The Ghost of the Hill House", Lolita Davidovich ("John F. Kennedy: Shots in Dallas", "Force majeure"), etc.
This film is more than relevant today and makes you realize an unexpected fact for many - smoke without fire still happens. The accused can be absolutely anyone. But, on the other hand, anyone can become an accuser who sincerely believes in his accusations, even if there are no objective grounds for them. . .