Auntie M is doing something different this week: she’s in Quebec with her writing group for a week of novel critiques and sightseeing treats to celebrate their 15th year working together. So it seems only fitting to treat readers to something different, too, and instead of a crime book review, she’s sharing her thoughts on a spectacular true crime documentary, Rainy in Glenageary.

Documentary filmmaker Graham Jones has never shied away from tough topics, and he brings his artistic eye to the story of the still-unsolved murder in 1999 of pretty blonde schoolgirl, Rainoaid Murry, known as Rainy.

The film is unlike most true crime movies with their clinical dissection of a case. This film is packed with visceral images, while it’s an homage to a young woman, who despite her teen antics, certainly didn’t deserve to die.Beautifully shot and edited, you won’t be able to look away, with lasting impact.

The police in the South Dublin area, known as Gardai, appear to have severely impeded their investigation by their own actions of intimidation, threats, and in at least one case, physical violence against Rainy’s friends. Not the best way to create an environment that lends itself to confidences. This accusatory attitude caused the teens to cower in fear and effectively shut them down. Any important information they held was lost.

Until Jones revisits the scene, and Rainy’s friends, who have had time and distance as well as maturity to step back from their fears, finally open up. Yet those who spoke with Jones’s crew soon found themselves outcast by others, a suspicious turn of events that reinforces the long-held belief that Rainy was murdered by someone who knew her.

The pretty area, filled with Victorian red-brick homes residing alongside newer, comfortable modern homes hardly feels like the setting to encourage murder. Yet the fact remains that 17 yr-old Rainy left her local pub and never made it home.

This is Jones’s 9th film, so he’s no stranger to controversy or to way to document them. At once compelling, told in the soothing voice of the narrator and the artful scenes shots, the film is also poignant in its sadness.

While a brilliant tribute to a young life tragically cut short, and told in a captivating way, there’s no escaping the impression that the viewer receives:
Someone out there is shielding a murderer.