Empty swing set in black and white.

CW: This article includes details of the homicide of children and mentions of sexual assault.

Teguan Harris

Originally premiering on Channel 5 in 2022, Netflix released the three-part drama Maxine earlier this month. Based on the Soham murders from August 2002, this series tells the story of Maxine Carr who provided a false statement for her murderous boyfriend, Ian Huntley. The show has sparked criticism from viewers.

The Soham murders occurred in August 2002, when 10-year-old schoolgirls Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells went missing after leaving Well’s residence. They left to buy sweets at the local sports centre.

Huntley, the senior caretaker of the girls’ school, lured them into his home – the home he shared with Carr, the girls’ teaching assistant. The girls never made it home, Huntley had taken their lives. At the time of the murder, Carr was in Grimsby. She was enjoying a weekend away from Soham. Upon hearing the news, she returned home and composed a lie in favour of Huntley. This landed her a sentence of three years in prison. 

“She’s no victim; she knew what I.H. was; she was complicit and an enabler.”

Upon the show’s release, the viewers criticised the show and its portrayal of Carr, expressing their discomfort with the show’s approach. One took to social media and wrote, “I don’t like how ‘Maxine’ on Netflix portrays Maxine Carr as a victim; previous documentaries do the same thing. She’s no victim; she knew what I.H. was; she was complicit and an enabler.”

THE STORY OF THE SOHAM MURDERS 

This three-part drama explores the turbulent relationship between Carr (Jemma Carlton) and Huntley (Line of Duty’s Scott Reid), and Carr’s role in the Soham murders. 

The couple first met in 1999 and began dating quickly. Despite their turbulent relationship, Carr continued to be involved with him. The couple moved to Littleport, near Soham, Cambridgeshire from Grimsby to start a new life. Carr pursues a teaching career and Huntley gets a job as a senior caretaker at the same school as Carr, hiding his history and allegations of sexual misconduct, assault and rape.

“Carr was sentenced to three and a half years for perverting the court of justice”

Carr leaves Huntley alone for a weekend in Grimsby before returning to Soham to find two of her students, Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells, have gone missing. This event triggers Carr’s web of lies, perverting the court of justice and preventing justice for her former students in the name of love.

Huntley and Carr were arrested on suspicion of murder. Huntley was charged with murder, and Carr was charged with perverting the court of justice and assisting an offender. It was later on the same day, thirteen days after the disappearances, that the bodies of Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells were found. As a result, Huntley was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 40 years. Carr was sentenced to three and a half years for perverting the court of justice while she escaped conviction for assisting an offender. 

According to the show, Huntley later claims Carr lied about her knowledge of the murders, which she denies.

Carr was released on probation in 2004 after serving half her sentence. She has since been assisted in changing her identity, got married and reportedly had a child.

‘POINTLESS AND UNCOMFORTABLE’

Having initially been released in October 2022 on Channel 5, the Netflix drama has attracted largely negative attention. Viewers expressed their distaste, arguing that “no one needed” this show to air or this story to be told.

Taking to social media, one person wrote, “One thing the UK will do instead of changing laws and taking responsibility for heinous crimes – reconstruct the events in a Netflix/BBC/ITV drama. No one needed Maxine Carr’s story.”

Another wrote, “What’s the point in making a dramatisation of Ian Huntley and Maxine Carr’s story?”

“Those 10-year-old girls, Jessica and Holly were the victims, along with their families.”

Further criticism centred on the portrayal of Maxine, as a victim rather than a criminal: “Watching #maxinecarr on Netflix & I refuse to feel sympathy for her. I remember this as if it were yesterday & watching her smugly lying on TV. She willingly helped him cover his tracks & is not a victim. Those 10-year-old girls, Jessica and Holly were the victims, along with their families.”

A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE

Others offered a different perspective on the series. For instance, viewers speculated that Carr was indeed a victim too, though this does not excuse her actions.

One person wrote: “Watching #Maxine on Netflix. Seems to try and portray Maxine Carr as a victim, which I think to an extent she probably was. A victim of DA, totally controlled by Ian, and only young. But whilst it explains why she lied, it certainly doesn’t excuse it. Uncomfortable watching.”

FINAL THOUGHTS

Last year, Netflix released the limited series Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, retelling the story of notorious American serial killer and cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer. The show was met with similar disapproval.

Engaging in discourse about how true crime stories can be handled with sensitivity, care, and respect would be a good starting point. Filmmakers should strive to ensure that true crime dramas do not re-traumatise the families and friends of victims. Going one step further, audiences should make a conscious effort to lessen the demand for dramatised stories about real people and instead consume documentaries structured around the requests of the victims and their families. 

Upon watching Maxine, there is no new insight from this three-part drama about the role Carr played in the attempt to acquit Huntley.

As of this year, Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells would have been 32 years old. 

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Featured image courtesy of Andrea Music via Unsplash. No changes were made to this image. Image licence found here.

Writer and journalist. University graduate in English Literature. Book reader, word lover and Notion enthusiast.

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