Touched by Murder

Touched by Murder

Part of From Lift to The Road: The Films of Marc Isaacs

2016•17m

DocumentaryCrime

The body of a young Polish woman is found in a suitcase on a London canal adjacent to a block of flats. The filmmakers invite the residents to reflect on how the murder has affected them. Through their stories we are provoked to think about our own relationship to the strangers living in our midst.

Open in PickFlick

Production

Europoly

Language

EN

Status

Released

Release Date

More from From Lift to The Road: The Films of Marc Isaacs

Lift

Lift

Director Marc Isaacs installs himself in the lift of a typical English tower block. People start talking to him, and we discover their lives.

Lift

2001

7.3

Travellers

Travellers

A very emotional look at the loneliness and heartache often conjured whilst travelling by train.A powerful and stunning piece with a focus on love lost, love found and regret.

Travellers

2003

4.8

Calais: The Last Border

Calais: The Last Border

A stark portrait of a town in decline. Brilliant juxstaposition between the scoff faced English day trippers searching for cheap booze, and the cold, snivelling asylum seekers existing on the streets. Thrown into the mix are two English ex pats, trying to make money against the odds.

Calais: The Last Border

2003

5.8

Philip and His Seven Wives

Philip and His Seven Wives

Philip and His Seven Wives (2006) a film made for the BBC’s prestigious Storyville strand, tells the intriguing story of a former messianic rabbi who believes that he communicates directly with God. Isaacs’ captivating and intimate documentary is a portrait of this unconventional family whose lives revolve around faith and obedience to the head of the household.

Philip and His Seven Wives

2005

6.2

Someday My Prince Will Come

An exposed Cumbrian village by the sea surrounded by windmills, fields and factories provides a striking setting for this fairy tale of young love and the loss of childhood innocence. Over one year, the film follows the 9 year-old Laura Anne and her 11 year-old cousin, Steven as they move towards the end of their childhoods. The narrative is told in rhyme by the young female protagonist. As time passes and the seasons change, feelings and memories from all our childhoods are evoked and we wonder what time will make of Laura Anne and Steven.

Someday My Prince Will Come

2005

All White in Barking

All White in Barking is a compassionate and illuminating documentary probing the attitudes of Barking's white residents toward their new immigrant neighbours. Isaacs is an unseen, but prominent, presence, questioning prejudices and prying at preconceptions with remarkable results to produce a vivid picture of the attitudes and perceptions at the heart of an increasingly multicultural Britain.

All White in Barking

2007

5.8

Men of the City

Men of the City

In Men of the City, Isaacs takes a more stylised approach to the lives of workers in the City of London during the recent financial meltdown, balancing sensitive portraits of diverse individuals striving to retain their dignity and humanity in the midst of the crisis. Strong human characters are at the heart of all of Isaacs' work, and with these films he continues to create a unique vision of modern Britain.

Men of the City

2009

5.6

Outside the Court

Outside the Court

They arrive, they smoke, they wait - armed robbers seeking redemption, life-long thieves, addicts and anxious fathers of wayward children. Hard exteriors hide soft centres, old lives exist in young bodies - ordinary people awaiting judgement on an unlovely stretch of pavement outside a London magistrates' court. Whilst waiting for their cases to be heard they reveal their lives, and the complexities of the human soul are laid bare. Tense and intimate conversations with the filmmaker illuminate stories that the magistrates hear daily. Director Marc Isaacs spent three months outside Highbury Magistrates Court and, in doing so, demonstrates how the eye of the camera has the ability to delve much deeper into character and motivation than the eye of the law. Consequently, the more we get to know the characters in this film, the harder it is to make easy judgements. Whilst the court must judge, the filmmaker need not.

Outside the Court

2011

The Old Man and His Bed

The Old Man and His Bed

Over a single night, the filmmaker invites the viewer to experience the life of an elderly man tied to his bed.

The Old Man and His Bed

2011

The Road: A Story of Life and Death

The Road: A Story of Life and Death

On the oldest Roman road in the capital, filmmaker Marc Isaacs weaves together numerous poignant stories of loss and the search for belonging into a tapestry of the human experience. Keelta a young Irish woman leaves home to build a new life for herself on the road where Billy, the old Irish labourer is struggling to find a meaning to his life. Peggy, a 95 year old Jewish refugee from Vienna and Brigitte, a German born former air hostess, have both suffered bad husbands, whilst Iqbal, an unassuming Indian hotel concierge, awaits the arrival of his wife from Kashmir. A film that forces you to recognise the struggles and preoccupations of its characters as our own.

The Road: A Story of Life and Death

2012

5.3

Outsiders

Outsiders

Our host Ben Ferguson and director Marc Isaacs travel to the Lincolnshire town of Boston to reveal a local story about communal fears about change and immigration.

Outsiders

2014

Men Who Sleep in Trucks

Men Who Sleep in Trucks

Award winning filmmaker Marc Isaacs explores the secret life of Britain's truckers, discovering an uncharted world of isolation, loneliness and the open road. Finding many of these men sleeping in their own trucks in lay-by car parks and service stations, this film is an intimate and poignant portrayal of modern masculinity on Britain's motorways.

Men Who Sleep in Trucks

2016

Sisters

Sisters

Two ageing siblings sit next to each other in a pub, waiting for instructions from the filmmaker which never come. They watch the time go passing by.

Sisters

2017

Moments of Silence

Moments of Silence

Built from the ground up from a series of introspective shots throughout Marc Isaacs's significant body of non-fiction work, Moments of Silence captures people feeling overwhelmed by difficult thoughts, pause and fall silent, seemingly dwelling on their past, contemplating their current ordeals, or worrying about their future.

Moments of Silence

2017

Notes on Bangladesh

Notes on Bangladesh

The residents of a Bangladeshi village anxiously wait for the heavy monsoon rains to clear. However, the rain continues and catastrophic flooding submerges their crops and houses.

Notes on Bangladesh

2017

Rainy Days

Rainy Days

Splices together images from Isaacs's documentaries to create an experimental montage set to a soundtrack.

Rainy Days

2017

Recommended

Con Mum

Con Mum

A chef's life is upended when a jet-setting, champagne-sipping, hotel-hopping woman claims to be his long-lost mother. This documentary reveals the untold story.

Con Mum

2025

6.9

Long Shot

Long Shot

When Juan Catalan is arrested for a murder he insists he didn't commit, he builds his case for innocence around unexpected raw footage.

Long Shot

2017

7.2

Voyeur

Voyeur

Legendary journalist Gay Talese unmasks a motel owner who spied on his guests for decades. But his bombshell story soon becomes a scandal of its own.

Voyeur

2017

5.9

The Naked City

The Naked City

After a former model is drowned in her bathtub, Detective James Halloran and Lieutenant Dan Muldoon attempt to piece together her murder.

The Naked City

1948

7.2

The Mystery of D.B. Cooper

The Mystery of D.B. Cooper

This documentary brings to life the stories of four people believed by their family and friends to be “DB Cooper,” a man who hijacked a 727 flying out of Seattle and jumped from the plane over the wilds of Washington State with a parachute and $200,000, never to be heard from again.

The Mystery of D.B. Cooper

2020

6.4

The Crash

The Crash

A teen slams her car into a building, killing her boyfriend and his friend. What seems like a tragic accident becomes a murder case.

The Crash

2026

6.9

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father

In 2001, Andrew Bagby, a medical resident, is murdered not long after breaking up with his girlfriend. Soon after, when she announces she's pregnant, one of Andrew's many close friends, Kurt Kuenne, begins this film, a gift to the child.

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father

2008

8.0

Naqoyqatsi

Naqoyqatsi

A visual montage portrait of our contemporary world dominated by globalized technology and violence.

Naqoyqatsi

2002

6.1

The Class of ‘92

The Class of ‘92

A detailing of the rise to prominence and global sporting superstardom of six supremely talented young Manchester United football players (David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Phil and Gary Neville). The film covers the period 1992-1999, culminating in Manchester United's European Cup triumph.

The Class of ‘92

2013

7.1

Nail Bomber: Manhunt

Nail Bomber: Manhunt

This documentary examines the 1999 London bombings that targeted Black, Bangladeshi and gay communities, and the race to find the far-right perpetrator. He terrorized a city, seeking to ignite a race war but justice was served by those who wouldn't let his hate win.

Nail Bomber: Manhunt

2021

6.5

Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story

Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story

Unravel the case of Utah therapist Jodi Hildebrandt, whose child abuse arrest with parenting YouTuber Ruby Franke exposed a twisted tale of manipulation.

Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story

2025

6.2

The Verdict

The Verdict

After an innocent man is executed in a case he was responsible for, a Scotland Yard superintendent finds himself investigating the murder of his key witness.

The Verdict

1946

6.5

PickFlick Assistant

Hi! I'm your PickFlick Assistant. Ask me about movies, TV shows, OTT sources, or anything about PickFlick.

Powered by CopilotKit