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Murdered for Being Different, is a 2017 British drama and crime film directed by Paul Andrew Williams. It is based on the real case which took place in the United Kingdom in 2007: murder of Sophie Lancaster and supported by the victim and the relatives.

Kind-hearted Sophie Lancaster (played by Abigail Lawrie) and her boyfriend, Robert Maltby (played by Nico Mirallegro) are invited to a skateboard park by Michelle Sturry (played by Mia Crossley) to play, but unexpectedly, they are beaten by a group of young thugs violently only because of their gothic dressing style, and Officer Steph Farley (played by Chanel Cresswel l) launches the investigation.

The film starts with reminding the audience that: "This is a true story. What follows is based on extensive research, interviews and published accounts. Some characters have been created for dramatic purposes. The film contains scenes which some viewers may find distressing." At the end of the film, the crew provides information about Rob and Sophie in the real case and their pictures, mourning for them. Moreover, they warn by giving the shocking figure of 70,000 reported cases of Hate Crime in Britain last year, which is the highest since records began.

There are also two other series films: the 2014 British film Murdered by My Boyfriend directed by Paul Andrew Williams and the 2016 British film Murdered by My Father directed by Bruce Goodison. Together, these three films make up the BBC's murder trilogy, which is all adapted from real stories. Murdered for Being Different has received widespread praise from audiences after it was first released on BBC3 on Sunday 18 June 2017. It gives deep thoughts about Hate Crime and has won the British Academy Television Award for Best Single Drama the following year.

Plot
A young couple: Rob and Sophie, is buying alcohol at a convenience store late at night. They are indeed friendly to people, even though they dress exaggeratedly in gothic style. Sophie wears black and red dreadlocks, earrings, nose rings, and lip rings; her boyfriend, Rob, is similar with dark curly hair, thick eyeliner, lip rings, heavy chains, and big skull rings on his hands. Their dress attracts the attention of two teenagers. One teenager, Michael asks Sophie if he can touch her hair and she agrees joyfully, joking that she will have to charge him next time. Interested in Rob and Sophie, he invites them to the park. In the park, there is a crowd of young people. Most of them, especially the girls, find their dress interesting and one girl even asks to have a picture with them. Right here and now, the gothic couple and the street teenagers get along well with each other. However, less than half an hour later, Rob and Sophie have been beaten with blood all over, and Sophie does not even breathe.

Officer Farley is in charge of the investigation. She comes to visit Michael, who called an ambulance on the scene, but he tells Farley that there was no one else and he was passing by when he happened to see the injured Rob and Sophie. Worse still, she is informed that the CCTV cameras in the neighbourhood were out of service and captured nothing that night by colleagues. Without any witness or evidence, the case appears to have reached a dead end. During the investigation, those teenagers lied about the incident easily, but Michael expresses his sympathy, regret, and self-reflection for what has happened to Sophie and rob. He witnesses the whole incident, and although he does not dare to come forward to stop beating, he calls for an ambulance. Later when he meets with a partner and the partner called Rob and Sophie moshies, he responds immediately and sensitively to stop him calling that way.

A few days later, comatose Sophie does not wake up. Rob wakes up, but he has no recollection of what has happened that day, let alone the perpetrators who have beaten him and Sophie because he is seriously injured. However, fortunately, when Michael finally learns of Sophie's death, he decides to provide the police with the testimony of that night ignoring the threats from the gang leader, even though he is still afraid.

The film also tells us about the memories of Rob and Sophie's love intertwined with the case. Their love is the same as most couples. Rob falls in love with Sophie at first sight at the pub and takes her to his secret base. As an art student, he paints wings on Sophie's back because he thinks she is an angel, so she needs wings and regards her the Mona Lisa to him. Sophie likes Harry Potter, so Rob reads with her, enjoying their romance in the freezing rooftop. To buy Sophie the Harry Potter, Rob waits until midnight for a discount. He even paid all money then he has to walk several miles in the rain to go back to their home. Their love is too beautiful to contrast with the inhuman and brutal violence that night.

Before this case, they have already been threatened once just because of their appearance, and Rob is even too afraid to go out though he thinks they do nothing wrong. However, at the end of the film, Rob decides to dress up and do the make-up again, as the same way before, not only in memory of Sophie but also being brave this time to stand out for what they believe.

Development
It is based on the real case in the United Kingdom: murder of Sophie Lancaster: In June 2007, in a park in Bacup, Lancashire, “feral thugs” kicked and stamped 20-year-old Sophie Lancaster to death by only because she was a goth.

"We are trying to find stories that have a basis in reality." BBC channel controller Damian Kavanagh says, "that are happening in our society at the moment, to help people understand themselves and their place in the world. " Aysha Rafaele, creative director of the documentary unit in BBC Studios, who has been the executive producer on three of the films, says: “The aspiration is always to find the real story. There’s nothing more impacting than starting with the words, ‘This is a true story.’” Marco Crivellari finds these stories, whose job is to bridge the gap between the script and the reality and help turn a true story into a fascinating drama. The only fictionalised element in the film is Michael Gorman, the witness to the attack who is under the stress of the gang but finally brave enough to stand out. He’s a composite of different people, partly to protect individuals who still live in Bacup, but also a young character that can embody the possibility of hope. “We want there to be a rallying cry,” says Rafaele. “You don’t have to be part of the mob. You can stand up and make your voice heard and make a difference.”

It is supported by the victim and the relatives.

During the conversation, they have shown great sorrow and struggled hard to continue. Sophie's mother says: "It's brutal. I had to watch it to make sure it did justice to Sophie. It was very very difficult. I don't think I've cried as much in 10 years. It absolutely broke my heart. It's very graphic, but I don't think it's gratuitous. We have to get that message out there that this is unacceptable behaviour." But Rob said he thought he finally got something positive come out of something so utterly negative, which really struck people.

Casting
Abigail Lawrie, who plays Sophie, gets the ultimate endorsement from Sophie’s mother. “I felt she was very, very good,” she says. “There is one scene where she’s sat on the couch and Rob comes in with a Harry Potter book. That took my breath away because that was Sophie. That looked like her, it felt like her." Rob said he though he had finally got something positive out of something so utterly negative, which really struck people.

Shooting preparation
London’s Will Coker graded the show using the Nucoda Film Master. Generally, he kept it natural, for example, he lets the story unfold smoothly, choosing a slightly softer look with lower contrast and muted tones, instead of the over-bleak background. But certain scenes were enhanced, like building an uneasy, nervous hospital atmosphere by greens, yellows, and sickly skin tones.

Filming
Director Paul Andrew Williams shows Sophie and Robert’s relationship in a romantic way rather than a crime-drama. It is too beautiful when they are together in an abandoned building with music swells and ticker tape falling around to contrast sharply with the attack.

Post-production
The audio was mixed on a D-Control surface, and the work is dominated by senior sound mixer Karl Mainzer. He contrasted the contemporary content with raw, gritty, nearly documentary-style sound beds and produced the flashbacks and out-of-body experiences by hyper-stylised sound design.

Release
Murdered for Being Different was first released on BBC3 on Sunday 18 June 2017.

Critical response
When murder of being different is released, the vast majority of the audience give positive affirmations and rave reviews. Julia Raeside from The Guardian praised the film editing and the shots created by director Paul Andrew Williams. She wrote that it is incredibly smart of the director to make comparisons with the flashbacks of Sophie and Rob's first meeting and how they are beaten up, which is simple but enough to make her sad. She also pointed out that every scene of this film is exquisite and is very shocking to use a beautiful love story to contrast with the tragedy.

Jasper Rees from Theartsdesk thinks it is a good point to continue to pluck up the courage to be different in the end by dressing up in gothic, even though his girlfriend was brutally murdered.

However, there are some people arguing about this film. Gerard O 'donovan from The Telegraph has some thoughts on whether there should be those cruel images of violence in the film. He thinks that people should see the full horror of such mindless cruelty and naked hatred should be shown precisely for what it is. But he feels that it is also understandable to omit of these shots.

Accolades
Murdered for Being Different has won the British Academy Television Award for Best Single Drama in 2008.