User reviews

Iceland is a small, mostly peaceable country. But in 1970s, the country was rocked by a horrific pair of murders. A youthful gang of petty criminals was implicated and convicted. Only after they got out of goal were questions raised as to the accuracy of the convictions, with allegations made that their confessions were, in effect, tortured out of them. Many find the gang's protestations convincing, and the bodies of the victims have never been found. But the main individual held responsible died, an alcoholic, without getting his case reheard. Documentary film 'Out of Thin Air' revisits the case. As a pure story, it's limited by the absence of resolution: we still don't know what happened, nor have the accusations of a fit-up been ratified by the courts. But it's still a striking and depressing story, one that muddies Iceland's image as a supremely civilised country.

Innocent until pressured into pleading guilty? Or something to that effect ... well something this documentary shines a light on. And it is an interesting premise. Individuals and how it all came to become a story worth making a documentary about. Mistakes during trial do happen everywhere, but this is just a whole different level.

The interviews are good and the structure is neat too. It all works fine with the timeline and with suspension the movie builds up to. If you like real life story drama, then this will be right up your alley. It's not trying to show off too much, so be aware of that

This is a sad story that is interesting from an historical point if view. However there is little evidence put forward and the film is very repetitive.

While the way it was presented is perfectly functional but nothing exceptional, the story itself did its job.

The story is quite something and needs to be seen or at least read about.

As for the film documentary itself, it is perfectly coherent but not exceptional. However, it left me frustrated as there was never any conclusion.

But like I said, the story is unbelievable enough to check out.

Iceland is a place everyone knows everybody. Back in the 70's there was a population of just 200k so when two men vanished over a space of several months there was massive pressure on the police to find the culprits. Six suspects were arrested and confessed to the murders and Iceland breathed easy again. The trouble is , despite their convictions , the six weren't sure if they were guilty or not. This is a fascinating documentary about how the human mind works if manipulated or mentally tortured. It's very sad in parts because lives were completely ruined but as documentaries go this is well worth watching. It's available on Netflix and BBCi player.

One of the interviewed officers said that there was no DNA evidence at the scene--in 1975.

First use of DNA in a criminal investigation was in 1986.

This is what you get in this documentary. A lot of faulty memories and unclear statements by everyone. It drags on and on like a slow moving Fellini picture, and ultimately goes nowhere.

The case might be interesting, but this film is not.

I can see how this story is interesting, but I just don't think it was interestingly told. I found it wanted to say much and used up a lot of space and time but in the end it gave me no solid clues why I should think they were guilty or not. I thought it just did a lot of talk over nothing instead of focusing on the story and the details. I also found it a bit one-sided as we were able to almost only see or hear Erla's story.

What I also wanted out of this is to kind of delve into what might have happened to the missing persons, the theories surrounding that and a bit more talk about the 'victims' so that we can maybe make our own theories about what might have happened to them.

I don't know. To me it's really bland - stylistically, the way the story was unraveled, the main character of this story (or who the focus was on)...

Just not my cup of tea. :)

A good documentary detailing the conviction off six people over the disappearance of two Icelandic men in the sixties. The confessions obtained by the six charged were questioned after diaries were found which detailed extensive interrogations and solitary confinement. The doc went into a good level of detail and provided first had interviews from police, journalists, and surviving members of the six convicted.

A documentary entailing two murders in Iceland, with the majority of focus on false confessions. It is slanted so far it is no longer a documentary but a glorified Facebook post! It does not address so many obvious blaring questions yet repeatedly shares "their opinions" Potential for a great view but failed miserably. They needed to decide focus of film.....murderers? people claiming innocent? or false confessions?

Leaves you having more questions and all the story there is not clear.

Too long story,a last those who wrongly accust where presumd innesent 2 days ago after 44 years of missery and torment for therr familys

Not one of the best true crime documentaries I've seen. This one could easily have been an hour and feels very padded at an hour and a half. I've never liked reconstructions and they doesn't add anything here either. The story starts out interesting and goes for the psychological angle, which is fine, but as an open-ended case we learn very little by the end about what actually happened.