A Cry in the Dark

No body, motive or weapon. The facts in the Australian murder trial of Lindy and Michael Chamberlain didn't add up. But other things did: bigotry against the couple's religion. Scattershot forensic evidence taken as fact. And a hysteria that was the 1980s equivalent of a Salem witchhunt. For 1988's powerful, truth-based A Cry in the Dark, Academy Award winner* Meryl Streep won Cannes Film Festival and New York Film Critics Best Actress Awards along with her eighth Oscar nomination. Her work as Lindy, who lives the nightmare of seeing a wild dog carry off her infant and then endures a travesty of a trial by the courts and media, is remarkable. Sam Neill is her match as tortured husband Michael. Director Fred Schepisi transforms true events into a riveting movie that will haunt you for days.

• crime
• docudrama