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.