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Parents' Guide to

Hunting the Essex Lorry Killers

By Danny Brogan, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 14+

Docu about tragic death of 39 migrants has upsetting scenes.

Movie NR 2022 59 minutes
Hunting the Essex Lorry Killers poster

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In what is one of the worst migrant tragedies to happen in the United Kingdom, this hard-hitting documentary is a tough watch. Through a series of talking heads, CCTV footage, and actual police interviews, Hunting the Essex Lorry Killers starts with the discovery of 39 Vietnamese migrants who suffocated to death in the back of a lorry in 2019 and then explains how the subsequent investigation unfolded.

It plays like a police procedural drama. There are dead ends and lucky breaks. But the filmmakers also deserve credit for never losing sight of the human tragedy at the heart of the case. In one sequence, headshots of all 39 of the victims appear on-screen with their names typed underneath. It's a chilling but important moment, as is the documentary as a whole.

Movie Details

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