Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Alex was just a few weeks away from his 3rd birthday before he became the sole witness in his mother’s murder case.
Based on a true story, Netflix’s three-part series ‘The Witness’ stars child actor Jahsaiah Williams as toddler Alex, who survives a brutal attack that claims the life of his mother, Rachel Nickell (Eleanor Williams), while the two are out for a walk on Wimbledon Common. Left to pick up the pieces, Alex’s father André Hanscombe (Jordan Bolger) must protect his son from relentless media attention while helping the little boy to process the trauma of the tragedy.
The biggest strength and weakness of this mini-series is the same: it’s a tense, largely no-frills look at the murder case and its aftermath. Those who appreciate direct, unembellished storytelling will find ‘The Witness’ quite brilliant. Others may find it surprisingly restrained and less emotionally devastating.
Of course, ‘The Witness’ comes with the disclaimer that some details were altered or dramatized for television. However, the creators’ decision to portray Alex’s response to his mother’s death in a remarkably ordinary manner is a detail that hits harder. At just two years old, Alex doesn’t fully understand what has happened and is easily distracted by toys and games. Lesser dramas might have been tempted to fill the screen with tearful outbursts and scenes of him constantly asking for his mother, but the show resists such emotional manipulation, opting instead for a reaction that feels far more believable for a child his age.
Spread over almost a decade, the story eventually catches up with a teenage Alex (played by Max Fincham), who is far more vocal and rebellious than his toddler self, frequently clashing with André over his father’s attempts to protect him. Yet despite the time jump, ‘The Witness’ consistently cuts back to the aftermath of the murder, showing how André and young Alex navigated the case as detectives tried to get the boy to reveal anything he remembered about the killer.
A parallel no-nonsense storyline follows the authorities as they piece together clues in Rachel Nickell’s murder, eventually zeroing in on a prime suspect and resorting to increasingly questionable tactics to bring him to justice. This was actually my favorite aspect of the show: the fact that the creators do not dive into the detectives’ personal lives (something I’ve previously criticized in my review of The Buckingham Murders) and instead maintain a tight focus on the case itself, the suspects, and the impact the tragedy has on Alex and his family.
Jordan Bolger’s André Hanscombe is the quiet hero of ‘The Witness’. In the opening scenes, he comes across as a hands-off father, letting Rachel take the lead when it comes to raising their son Alex. But after Rachel’s murder, a shattered André steps up, becoming Alex’s primary caregiver and doing everything in his power to give his son a stable, healthy upbringing.
Watching this three-part series reminded me a lot of Adolescence. Both are tense crime dramas centered around children, but they approach the genre from opposite directions. While ‘Adolescence’ asks what happens when the murderer is a child, ‘The Witness’ explores a different question altogether: what do you do when a 2-year-old is the sole witness to a brutal murder?
‘The Witness’ closes on a powerful, hopeful note, with both father and son finally finding a measure of closure when the man responsible for Rachel’s murder is convicted after nearly a decade. Without ever becoming loud or preachy, the series also serves as a subtle indictment of the authorities, whose mistakes and missteps prolonged the family’s suffering. Yet it also acknowledges the determination of investigators who refused to let the case go cold. Thanks to advances in forensic technology, the truth eventually comes to light, allowing both Alex and André to move forward with their lives.
Watch ‘The Witness’ on Netflix.
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