Why You Should Watch HBO Max's 'The Murders at White House Farm'
Don’t expect sensationalism in this ITV dramatization of one of Britain’s most notorious homicide cases, the brutal murder of three generations of a family in 1985 in a remote, locked farmhouse. The case that HBO Max series The Murders at White House Farm is based on remains controversial in the U.K. - so much so that director Paul Whittington (The Crown Season 4, Cilla, The Widower) and his team received protests from the murderer and his supporters who thought the series might unfairly influence future appeals. (I should point out that there are spoilers here since we’re fairly sure of this person’s guilt from the beginning.) But what will hold your attention in this drama is the choice of subtlety over gore, the slow exploration of how the case was solved, and the personalities involved.
The series is a snapshot of the 1980s with impeccable attention paid to the details of everyday life, the odd color schemes and fixtures inside houses, and music, clothes, and hairstyles. It wasn't the most attractive period, but the frequent shots of the Essex landscape, flat, with golden fields and lines of mature trees, add a sense of beauty and timelessness.
It’s possible that's the influence of Colin Clafell who lost his ex-wife Sheila and his twin boys that night in Essex, and who consulted on the series. He became a grief and loss counselor and has written a book about the case, In Search of the Rainbow's End: Inside the White House Farm Murders.
