I was never aware these two sick animals' crimes, so I went in to this without knowing what this movie was about. A social work student is asked to act as an 'Appropriate Adult' for a guy in a police station who is dressed in a normal fashion, no chains or even handcuffs. The fellow speaks in a matter of fact manner about having problems with his daughter, who threatened to give LSD to her younger siblings, and the father says he loses control and chokes her. The fellow then is left alone with the 'AA' and makes some chilling remarks to her. The police are shown digging up the guy's backyard with him again, not in handcuffs, speaking knowledgeably about using some tools.Basically, that's the pattern of the whole movie, and while it's kind of creepy, it gets kind of monotonous after a while, and I found myself wishing that the film would just end. Certainly, the two leads give good performances, but the director doesn't help them much in his choice of presenting the story in the manner of a play, rather than as a work of cinema.

"Appropriate Adult" from 2011 is based on the Fred and Rosemary West murder case. A social worker in training, Janet Leach (Emily Watson) is brought in by Gloucester police as the "appropriate adult" at the interrogation of Fred West (Dominic West), thought to be a little on the simple side. He and his wife Rosemary (Monica Dolan) have been accused of killing their daughter and burying the body in their garden.Fred says right up front that he wants to set the record straight. He tells a story of his daughter wanting to leave home, that she said something nasty to him, and he grabbed her by the throat. Suddenly she turned blue. He tried mouth to mouth but she seemed to get worse. Well, what to do. So he got an ice breaker to cut off her legs so he could stuff her somewhere and then Rosemary wouldn't see her.When asked why he didn't tell the police this before, Fred says, "Well, I wasn't ready." Anyway he claims Rosemary knew nothing about it. He is so casual and matter-of-fact, listening to him is shocking.Fred seems to take to Janet, so he confides in her, again, casually, that there are more bodies, around nine. Since anything he tells her is confidential, she can't repeat what he said. Later he talks about the love of his life, Anna, and Janet discovers that she bears a resemblance to her. He seems to be very dependent on her.Janet has her own problems - children and a bipolar partner who has gone off his meds.Once his interrogation is over, Fred begs her to visit him in prison. Thinking he might give her more info and implicate Rosemary, she visits him several times.This is a terrific psychological drama. It kind of reminded me of what actually happened to Capote in the Cutter case, where Perry Smith bonded with him, or so Capote believed. I think he tried all along to manipulate him, as I think Fred here played Janet. Janet is not fooled by him, but there is something about him claiming that he needed her that keeps her coming back and makes her feel important out of the chaos of her home.Emily Watson is fantastic - quiet, unassuming, very committed, and by the book, who becomes more involved than she planned, and who can't forget the horrors that Fred tells her. And Dominic West is simply astonishing - no emotion as he talks about the killings, talks about Anna being the love of his life, and how Rosemary, who is in prison under suspicion, must get out of prison to keep the family together. As if there is a family and Rosemary is not a prostitute.Monica Dolan as Rosemary is mean as dirt. It's a great performance - she's hateful.Highly recommended. A very unsettling story of a normal woman who comes face to face with the unimaginable.

Emily Watson's stunning BAFTA winning performance sets the small screen ablaze in this gripping study of sociopathy and those seduced by it. Watson does some of her most memorable and powerful work here and it is a clear demonstration of a gifted actor at the height of her artistry. Dominic West is also good with Monica Dolan absolutely amazing in the role of the murder's wife. The script is incisive and the direction crisp and efficient. A sense of overwhelming dread and discomfort permeates the film from beginning to end and heightens the intensity throughout. It is, however, Emily Watson who is absolutely incredible in this role and whose wondrous talent will blind audiences with its fiery brilliance. This is an actor who never fails to bring humanity and truth to any character she plays and her gifts are especially on beautiful display in this mesmerizing performance.

I totally agree with the last review. Perfectly done, Imagination is much more vivid than a movie most times. I am now retired but as a lad my Mum used to read to me, all sorts of books that she wanted to read, Caine Mutiny, Step right up (true story) and on and on. Anything I didn't understand she would explain to me, then when I could read I had a library card right off. Mum and I would wait anxiously for a movie to come out based on a book we had read. some missed the mark, some made it like Andy Griffith "No time for sergeants". And what a surprise ending, at least for me, living here in the USA, the story never made the headlines I am sure it got in the UK.