In this episode of The Room Went Dark, Amalie & Lorraine take a deep dive into Barry Levinson's 1996 crime drama Sleepers, starring Jason Patric, Brad Pitt, Billy Crudup, Ron Eldard, Kevin Bacon, Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman.
Set between the 1960s and 1980s, the story follows four boys from New York's Hell's Kitchen whose lives are changed forever after a prank goes horribly wrong and they are sent to the fictional Wilkinson Home for Boys. Thirteen years later, their past comes back to haunt them when two of the men encounter one of the guards who abused them.
But there's another story hiding behind Sleepers.
The film opens by presenting itself as a true story, yet the authenticity of Carcaterra's original book was questioned almost immediately. Contemporary reporting highlighted disputes over whether the events described had actually happened, making the question of fact versus fiction an important part of the film's history.
Content warning: This episode discusses child abuse, sexual abuse, violence and trauma.
Sleepers isn't simply a story about revenge. It's a story about childhood, friendship, trauma and the consequences of what happens when the people meant to protect children become the source of their suffering.
Sources
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Music:
Track: Caverns Of Madness -
Artist: Darren Curtis
