Bayou Blue

The title refers to the remote wetland parish surrounding Houma, Louisiana where, between 1997 and 2006, serial killer Ronald Dominique raped and murdered 23 young men, mostly poor black local residents. This documentary from US filmmakers Alix Lambert and David McMahon asks the right questions. Why was Dominique allowed to keep killing? Where were the cops? And why was there so little media coverage of the case? But it fails to find satisfactory answers, resulting in a shallow, rather drab factual report. It doesn’t help that many of their interviewees have such glutinous Cajun accents that they are all but unintelligible: one slightly terrifying middle-aged woman seems to speak entirely in vowels. The filmmaking is strictly functional, with little attempt to capture the eerie beauty of this secluded backwater. It’s a shame, because with a little effort this could have been a work of stark, impressive and timely reportage, rather than a mildly diverting TV movie.