No Stone Unturned

On the 18th of June 1994, 3 men carrying VM58 assault rifles walked into the Heights Bar in Loughinisland Co. Down and shot 11 men in the back, killing 6 of them. The men were Catholics watching Ireland playing Italy in the World Cup. The shooters were from the Ulster Volunteer Force.

This documentary is about that night and the investigation that followed.

We hear from the wife and daughter, Claire and Emma, of one 34 year old victim, Adrian Rogan, and the niece, Moira Casement, of Barney Green who was 87 when he was murdered. The barman, Aidan O'Toole, who was shot that night but survived with huge psychological trauma, the members of the RUC who investigated and the members of the British government who then reviewed the whole process.

This is upsetting and troubling stuff and hard to watch in places. It's not violent but seeing the effects of the night on its victims and family members of the lost is tough going and feels almost voyeuristic in places, especially a moment when we see a man struggling to describe the events with his voice on the verge of breaking. We see a reconstruction of the crime but thankfully the bloody details are left  to our imagination, instead focusing on the guns and balaclavas of the perpetrators. We get a look at not just the crime but at events leading up to it, giving it a welcome context for those not familiar with the story. Then the story pulls back and out as we get a look at the effect the crime had on the psyche of Northern Ireland and the greater world.

One thing I'll take from this is the dignity and grace with which the surviving victims and family members carry themselves. You can see clearly on their faces the effects of grief but they've still managed to hold on to their humanity in the face of despicable events. They deserve all the respect in the world for that. The fact that they chose the lawful route for justice.

Our small island has had way more than its fair share of trouble over the years and here the film makers righteously lay the vast majority of the blame for it at the steps of the UK government. We hear of cover ups, missing evidence, shady deals and the big one, collusion between the government and illegal paramilitary organisations. It's suggested that the higher echelons of power simply chose to overlook the massacre for various reasons that the documentary goes into deeper than I can here.

This is a 2hr documentary that is well worth your time. Director Alex Gibney has made a film that will grip you from it's disturbing opening to it's metaphor laden final shot. Using a mix of talking head interviews, archival footage and recreations of the event this is as gripping and labyrinthine in its twists and turns as a James Ellroy novel and does it in a way that's always respectful of the victims and their families. Of course it doesn't answer every question, tbh, it never could, but it shines a lot of light on a horrific moment in the history of the North that should never be forgotten.