The 1996 murder of French filmmaker Sophie Toscan Du Plantier at her vacation home in West Cork is one of Ireland’s most shocking unsolved crimes. British journalist Ian Bailey was investigated by Irish authorities but never faced trial in Ireland, despite the fact he was tried and convicted in absentia by the French government. With Re-Creation, co-directors Jim Sheridan (My Left Foot, In The Name of the Father) and David Merriman (Rock Against Homelessness) have created a fiction-reality hybrid with a simple question at its heart: what if Bailey had been brought to trial for the murder in Ireland? The film brings us into the room as a fictional jury sifts through the facts of the case, the inconsistencies in the various stories and the inconvenient truths that make the case so vexing.

Featuring stellar performances from an ensemble cast, including Vicky Krieps, who is remarkable and magnetic as the lone, initial holdout, Re-Creation is a bracing reminder that, when sensationalism threatens to overwhelm, facts and truth remain paramount.—Jason Gutierrez

Jim Sheridan and David Merriman