Dream/Killer

The story itself is powerful - a forced confession, a dad's unwavering support for his son, a power hungry prosecutor and a quest for freedom by a wronged man all add up to what should be a great documentary. Unfortunately the pieces aren't all here. The documentary completely glosses over the crime itself, the "dream" confession and the reasons why it was all bogus. It fails to explain the boys alibis, the exonerating evidence (beyond the witnesses who come up later) and anything else about the case. The filmmakers either assumed the audience would have a curosry knowleedge of the case or took for granted their own knowledge, thereby depriving the audience of the backstory and examining the real reasons of what led to this tragedy. They show Ryan's dad conducting crime scene walks to "study the evidence" but they never explain what he's looking for or why he's doing it, in the context of the investigation. Sure the vigilante dad is a nice story but not at the cost of leaving viewers in the dark and tackling the bigger issue of police/prosecutor misconduct.

This film should be watched by everyone in the United States!! Not everyone has an advocate such as this boy’s father!! The crooked prosecutors in acts such as this one should have to stand trial for their misconduct and spend the same amount of time in prison as those such as this young man who was cheated out of 10 years of his life!! This would be the only way to stop this failure in our justice system! If the perpetrators of this injustice were punished, this might make all prosecutors and those that help them to sentence innocent people stop and think about what could happen to them when justice does prevail as it did in this and other cases like this one!! Judy H. Washington State

Superbly told story. Thank goodness for the belief of a father and a crusading attorney to get an innocent man out of jail. Makes you wonder how anyone could get a fair trial with coerced confessions and a prosecutor who breaks the law in pretending to uphold it. And the real killer is still out there.

I have never trusted the justice system, this affirms my distrust. Unreal.

This movie was really good! What father go out their way like that for their son!

Can we squish this into the cliched, 'power-hungry prosecutor' genre….is there enough meaning in that adjective to perpetrate injustice of the magnitude shown here and elsewhere? Or are we complicit in not acting - right away - to counter the many examples of unfathomable fabrications fed by egos and elections and profit and corruption and collusion? Abhor injustice ACTIVELY. Ryan, there's no replacement. Find your beauty and stay awake through as many productive and connected hours as you can. You've been robbed and educated and fleeced.

So scary and sad that this happened to Ryan and his family.

Brilliant!!!!!! It not only shows how backwards our justice system is, but also the power of Love! And how much one person can do!

I expected this to be a great film and I wasn’t let down. What an important story to tell, I’m so glad Andrew took it on. I went to the Salem Witch Museum in 6th grade and remember being utterly blown away by the man who was pressed to death. The museum employees said every time he was asked a question, he told them to put on more stones because he knew they wouldn’t believe he was not a witch, and he would die if he confessed. He was condemned from the beginning. I felt the same way watching Dream/Killer. The justice system is still conducting witch hunts today. Thank God for people Kathleen Zellner and Bill Ferguson for being brave enough and intelligent enough to challenge the system over and over and again. I just gained some incredible role models. Of course Ryan is included in that as well. I’m so humbled by his fortitude. Now, I have to go read For Whom the Bell Tolls.

This is a real life raw look into a flawed justice system- and its s wonderful. You think this cannot happen to you or to someone that you love but you are wrong. It happen to Ryan- a normal kid from Columbia, Missouri that was just living his teenage life. Ryan, his Dad Bill, and Jenks do such a great job of telling the story and drawing you in. KZ is a force to be reckoned with and thank GOD she fought for Ryan. I bought this and will share it with all my crime and justice inquisitive friends. 5 stars and more!