Sophie: A Murder in West Cork

Photo by David Balev on Unsplash

Netflix’s latest true crime documentary series covers the unsolved murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier, a French woman who was found dead outside her holiday home in Ireland, and the proceeding investigation.  The Three-part limited series delves into the case through interviews with Sophie’s family, journalists, local residents and Garda (Irish national police) who worked on the investigation. 

Sophie was found brutally beaten to death outside her holiday home in the village of Schull, West Cork just before Christmas in 1996.  What made this so shocking was that Schull is a remote village and experiences very little crime. Schull and the surrounding areas are idyllic. With several panoramic scenes featured, showing an endless haze of hills and crashing waves, it is easy to see why Sophie was so enamoured with the area.  One of the first things heard in the opening credits is a reporter saying: “The murder here being the first in living memory”, asserting just how profound this tragedy was for the local community. 

Throughout the documentary, the Garda come under scrutiny for their handling of the case, often appearing as if they don’t really know what they’re doing. The Garda have many mishaps including losing vital evidence, such as a large gate from the crime scene which had blood on it. Some of the evidence collected shown comes across as amateurish. Instead of photographs, a simplistic outline of a hand is used to indicate where scratches were seen on a suspect the day after the murder.

The documentary also unusually features the prime suspect of Sophie’s murder, Ian Bailey, who willingly speaks about the crime. Bailey comes across as unlikeable, arrogant and is characterised as the ‘village weirdo’. It is hard to tell if suspicions originated as character assassination or circumstantial evidence, and hearing his perspective is compelling but leaves the viewer with a somewhat uneasy feeling. Throughout his interview, Bailey is relaxed in the comfort of his home, a stark juxtaposition to the anguish of Sophie’s family and friends.

True crime documentaries can often be guilty of forgetting about the victim- they become a side story to the circumstances of their death, the investigation or the perpetrator. This series is successful in keeping Sophie in the eye of the audience through pictures and home video footage of her in and around her Irish home. The interviews with Sophie’s family remind the viewer of the humanity and raw emotion of the story rather than the mystery and sensational aspect of Sophie’s death.

The series plays out almost like the plot of a murder mystery: a beautiful woman, murdered brutally in a sleepy village but there is no satisfying conclusion. It is a fascinating look at rural Ireland and how criminal justice works in a place where it is unfathomable that it would be needed.  The audience is left feeling frustrated as the road to justice for Sophie is thwarted at several turns and her family do not fully get the justice they deserve.

 Sophie: A Murder In West Cork is available to stream on Netflix.