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Manon Blackman as Renee Chignell.
Manon Blackman as Renee Chignell.

Pop CultureJuly 16, 2018

Review: Mistress, Mercy struggles against the constraints of doco-drama

Manon Blackman as Renee Chignell.
Manon Blackman as Renee Chignell.

Based on one of the most notorious murder cases in New Zealand history, Mistress, Mercy finds itself hamstrung by the limits of the doco-drama genre.

In 1989, Renee Chignell and Neville Walker were convicted of the murder of Peter Plumley-Walker. Police alleged they had thrown him into the Huka Falls after a bondage session with Chignell, who was aged 18 at the time. It took two retrials for a jury to be convinced that Plumley-Walker had actually died during the bondage session, accidentally, when Chignell was out of the room. The story was a media sensation, and 30 years later, we’ve got Mistress, Mercy, a doco-drama that combines recreations of the events with Chignell’s own words, which have not been heard until now.

There’s no question of the worthiness of Renee Chignell’s story. There’s no question that we all need a reminder about how our justice system and by proxy, our society, is rigged against women, and especially rigged against sex workers. When we see scenes of Chignell being mistreated by the police, by her boyfriend and by the court proceedings, it nudges something in you. This happened 30 years ago, but how much has actually changed? How much are the voices of the already marginalised being minimised and warped in the name of expedited justice?

In some ways, there’s something quietly revolutionary about a story like this, which reframes Chignell’s story in her own words, in the Sunday Theatre slot. There is a luridness to the depiction of the story – especially the scenes in which Renee engages with clients – that feels very HBO, or what HBO was 20 years ago. It’s definitely not a story about Kate Sheppard, or Katherine Mansfield, or any number of women who lived very period-costume-drama lives that lend themselves well to these television events.

That Sunday Theatre slot is generally reserved for real-life TV movies which get huge ratings on their premiere, and then find their place on the media shelf afterwards. A lot of stories ripped from headlines through the years. Lots of stories worth telling, but not necessarily being told in the most revolutionary or even the most appropriate way.

Xavier Horan as Neville Walker and Manon Blackman as Renee Chignell.

Which is what brings me to Mistress, Mercy‘s one big problem. The doco-drama aspects play up the luridness of the case, particularly Chignell’s circumstances and work – it’s all moody noir lighting and dialogue that gets the maximum amount of exposition across with the maximum amount of drama. Often, it feels like the recreations aren’t trusting the story. The scene where Walker dies is a particular misstep: it’s all slow-motion, extreme close-ups and muffled screams. Chignell’s words are chilling enough on their own. Do we need the Lifetime movie theatrics around them?

And that’s where the entire piece turns in on itself. Is doco-drama really the best vehicle for Chignell’s story, or for this kind of real life true crime story at all? Over the past decade, we’ve seen a hunger for these true crime stories – and to see them examined at length and with as much depth as possible. Single cases are explored through podcast series or 13 episode shows; details are pored over by producers and audiences alike. Just look at at The JinxSerial, S-Town: there’s a real demand for this type of content.

But in 2018, doco-drama seems like such an antiquated way to present it. Recreations never have the same impact as fully-scripted drama, or actual archival footage – you’re seeing snippets of scenes and people rather than anything properly fleshed out.

It’s hard to give Chignell’s words and story the space they need when half of the two hours (including ads) are taken up with fictional recreations. While Mistress, Mercy includes a lot of Renee Chignell talking directly to the camera – and these parts are invariably the best part of the whole thing, because she’s a charismatic and articulate woman who has an incredible handle on what happened to her and why – it also includes a lot of dialogue recited by actors who are playing the idea of real people, rather than characters or anything close to those real people.

To Mistress, Mercy‘s credit, in terms of journalism it’s about as robust as you can get in two hours. It does a good job of balancing the actual facts of the story – the killing, the investigation, the courtroom proceedings – with Chignell’s interpretation of them. It doesn’t feel like we’re missing anything, necessarily, by telling this story in this way, even though Mistress, Mercy is weighted far more heavily towards the crime and the investigation, at the expense of what came later.

But it also doesn’t seem like we’re gaining anything from telling the story like this, other than Chignell’s own words, which are vital and necessary. It’s so rare that we’re actually given the opportunity to listen to how people dealt with injustice, especially women and especially sex workers.

But the recreations? They’re not vital, or necessary. Docu-drama is neither the best fictional treatment this story could be given – no story or performer is served well by skeletal scenes and generic dialogue – nor is it as immediate and powerful as a completely factual retelling. So why do it at all?


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The final semi-famous five.
The final semi-famous five.

Pop CultureJuly 15, 2018

Survivor NZ, week 13: Adam packs up all his faces

The final semi-famous five.
The final semi-famous five.

Only five survivors are left battling it out for the money and glory, and honestly, it could be anyone’s game at this point.

Could our winner be pharma-hunk Dave, who in immunity challenges is always the runner up, never the bride? Or maybe Tara, who no one in the jury is particularly angry at for sending them home, so could snatch the popular vote. Maybe it will be Team Pink captain Tess, or the endlessly meme-able Adam. Or could it be Lisa, who fooled everyone with her ‘superfan-mum’ façade? We’re a few weeks away from finding out our winner, but for now let’s see how things played out this week.

Tess’s Comeback

Tess was all but done for last week, but somehow her new lizard alliance came through for her, and it was Matt who got voted out instead. Back at camp, Tess was not happy with Adam when he revealed that he wrote her name down, and she gave him the silent treatment for a good day.

Still, Tess had a stellar week, winning both the reward and immunity challenges, securing herself a spot in the top four. When Tess had to decide who to bring on her Thai massage reward, she put the drama from last tribal aside, and chose Adam, who gave her the most awkward hug we’ve seen this season.

The reward gave the two a chance to get off the island for a bit. Last week, when she was certain she was on the chopping block, Tess told us she was glad that she was “still in paradise”. It seems she’s changed her tune a bit this week.

Adam gets the chop

This week we say goodbye to Adam, whose confessional interviews have without a doubt been the highlight of the season. We all knew Adam wouldn’t leave us without dropping some heavy shade, and of course, he delivered.

Although I found it kinda hilarious that Adam decided to call everyone else trolls while sitting like this:

Trolly trolly troll.

So let’s take a look back at few more of the most iconic Adam moments from the season:

Many faces and yet one face. Because of the Botox.

Strat Chat

The strat chat this week centered around the two power couples on the island trying to woo Dave to vote with them. On one side was Adam and Tess, neither of whom had really worked with Dave before, and on the other was Lisa and Tara.

There was a moment in one of Tara’s confessionals this week when she said she didn’t want to “drag anyone to the end”, and this really made me cackle. It’s pretty clear that Tara is the goat of this season, the person you sit with at the final Jury because you know they haven’t played a good game, and won’t receive any votes. Tara’s only hope is that Lisa and Dave piss off everyone in the jury enough that they would vote for Tara out of spite for the other two.

Tribal Council

Oh, you didn’t think Adam was going to leave without some fireworks did you? Adam laid it all out on the table at tribal this week. He didn’t hold back, stating a pretty convincing case against Lisa, who is looking like a frontrunner at this stage.

All of this, capped off with Adam shouting Lisa’s name through the cave as he voted. I expected nothing less.

Can’t even tell who Adam isn’t a fan of here.

Blindside Rating: 1/10

I genuinely thought that Dave might have flipped on Lisa this week, but unfortunately he didn’t, and Adam was sent packing. All according to Lisa’s master plan.

Jury Villa bonus!

Oh, you aren’t watching Jury Villa? Mate. This week’s video is an absolute doozy, and it looks like the biggest controversy of the season is about to come to a head. Get all the tea on TVNZ OnDemand.

Chisholm-ism of the week

My favourite line this week actually comes from Tess, not Matt. At the massage reward, Tess describes herself as a “real pamper-puss” which is precisely what I expect to hear from someone who self identifies as “Team Pink”.

Survivor NZ Quick Stats

18 – kg lost by Adam on Survivor, the most of anyone this season. Skinny legend!!
4 – players left: Tara, Dave, Tess and Lisa
0 – chickens sacrificed for food.


This content, like all television coverage we do at The Spinoff, is brought to you thanks to the excellent folk at Lightbox. Do us and yourself a favour by clicking here to start a FREE 30 day trial of this truly wonderful service.

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