Red Riding Trilogy [NR]: Dark, engrossing mystery divided into three separate movies about the investigation of missing children that contains threads over a decade-long case based in Yorkshire amongst thuggery and nuclear silos. Though they encroach and entwine with each other, they can be viewed individually or as one entire story. In Red Riding: 1974 (directed by Julian Jarrold), Eddie Dunford, securing a position as a crime correspondent, butts heads with city corruption and enterprising architect John Dawson while investigating a serial killer who stitches swan wings on his victim's back. Told in period sepia, it's reminiscent of Lars von Trier's Element of Crime. In Red Riding: 1980 (dir. James Marsh), as a thirteenth crime victim surfaces in the Yorkshire Ripper case, the police commissioner is removed and replaced by Pete Hunter, head of the Manchester force. But a cold case involving missing children keeps sidetracking his investigation until two unlikely suspects are convicted of the crimes. You'll need a scorecard to keep the characters straight, but it's worth it. Very influenced by the best Jean Pierre Melville style crime dramas. Another 10-year-old girl goes missing in Red Riding: 1983 (dir. Anand Tucker), as a psychic is brought in claiming that the wolf and the rat and the swan lie dead beneath the carpet! It's the most surreal installment, told both in flashback and its impact on then-current events. As we pick up with appeals for both the convicted confessor Michael and his accomplice Leonard, the one that got away is revealed. And what we already know is reconstructed to fill in the gaps. Distractions only lend credibility to an enormous undertaking, and the real artistry here is that you'll feel as though you've been through the ringer.