Into the Abyss

Movie Screening | As part of "Cities for Life"

In 2001, a triple murder shook the Texas town of Conroe. Michael Perry and Jason Burkett were convicted of murdering a mother, her son, and his friend. Perry is on death row awaiting execution, while Burkett is serving a long prison sentence.

Werner Herzog meets the two men in prison and asks them simple, direct questions about their lives, their pasts, and their crimes. His aim is not to determine the convicts’ guilt. Rather, he is interested in what lies behind a crime: the perpetrators’ life stories, the grief of their loved ones, and the lifelong consequences for the victims’ families.

Herzog speaks with relatives on both sides, with investigators, a prison chaplain, and people directly involved in the Texas justice system. These encounters paint a multifaceted and haunting picture of guilt, loss, and retribution. At the same time, the death penalty itself becomes an unavoidable topic: What does it mean when a state kills a person as punishment for murder?

USA | 2011 | 105 min | Dir.: Werner Herzog