Lost Boy – The Killing of James Bulger review: Made with care and professionalism

Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Get our The Life Cinematic email for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The horrific nature of the death of the toddler; his name; the names of the killers, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, both 10; the anguish of James’s parents, Denise and Ralph. The two-part documentary, which is airing over two consecutive nights, was in fact made with care and professionalism by ITN, making liberal use of the archive footage gathered at the time, intermingled with moving interviews with those involved – police officers, the killers’ solicitors, journalists and, most of all, members of the Bulger family. We also hear for the first time from James’s brothers – Michael, born nine months after James perished, and his half brothers Thomas, 22, and Leon, 21. They were all born after James’s death, so they couldn’t be described as witnesses, but they certainly experienced the unending misery that Venables and Thompson sentenced the family to – their own life sentences, if you’ll pardon the cliche.