“What a low act!": Daniel Morcombe's parents outraged at upcoming film
The devastated parents of murdered Queensland boy Daniel Morcombe have blasted an upcoming film about their son’s death.
Daniel Morcombe was only 13 years old when he was abducted and murdered on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast in December, 2003.
In August 2011, Brett Peter Cowan was arrested and later found guilty of Daniel’s murder.
Now parents Denise and Bruce Morcombe have come out attacking the film The Stranger, which tells the story of an undercover detective trying to catch a killer in Australia.
The Stranger premiered at Cannes earlier this year and will play at the Melbourne International Film Festival in August.
A statement from the Morcombe’s was shared on the Daniel Morcombe Foundation Facebook page calling the film a “low act” and have asked people not to watch it.
“What a low act! I won’t be going to watch this movie. I won’t be recommending anyone go. The movie is not supported or sanctioned in any way by the Morcombe family,” the statement read.
“It’s appalling storyline ignores our family‘s pain and chooses to profit from 13-year-old Daniel Morcombe.
“Next year will mark 20 years since we lost Daniel. The passage of time does not make it any easier. Personally, I find the making of this movie morally corrupt and a cruel, callous, selfish cash grab by all involved. Shame on you.
“I recommend the public stay away from it and either save their money or consider donating it to the Daniel Morcombe Foundation.”
Mrs Morcombe took it further and called the movie makers “parasites” for disrespecting her son.
“The movie ‘The Stranger’ is not supported by the Morcombe family. Individuals who make money on a heinous crime are parasites,” she wrote.
“They are callously disrespectful to Daniel, the DMF & the Morcombe family. We find the making of the movie morally corrupt and cruel. Shame on you.”
Mr Morcombe responded to his wife’s tweet saying: “We are not amused! How can anyone give oxygen to a crime that is so, so evil? Connections of the movie have blood on their hands.”
Director Thomas M Wright said he made the film to share a different perspective of the story because he could not “presume” what the family was going through.
“One reason I chose not to show the child or family (in The Stranger) was to make a film with a clear moral perspective,” he previously said.
“I couldn’t presume to know anything of the experience of that family. But I could see that there was a story about empathy and making meaning in the wake of violence, not violence itself.”
According to Hollywood reporter, “the film offers a fictionalised portrait of the massive undercover operation that cracked the infamous cold case of 13-year-old Daniel Morcombe, who went missing in 2003.”
Images: Daniel Morcombe Foundation