Lucia de B.

For more than six years, nurse Lucia de Berk was unduly imprisoned for the fictitious assassination of seven toddlers and elderly people. The cinema version of one of the most controversial court cases in Dutch history is a thriller, courtroom drama and biographical portrait.

Lucia de Berk is a strong-minded nurse who arouses suspicion when she is once again involved in an unexplained death. The hospital brings in the police and the file ends up on the desk of inexperienced secretary Judith. While the investigation fails to produce any evidence and the nurse refuses to talk to the detectives, De Berk is soon branded in the media as ‘Angel of Death’.

She is sentenced to life imprisonment for four assassinations and three attempted murders on the basis of a blood test. Shortly afterwards, the reliability of the test is questioned and Judith starts to have serious doubts. Her superiors turn a blind eye and De Berk is again sentenced on appeal.

The trial is seen as one of the major miscarriages of justice in the Netherlands. Lucia de B. won the Golden Film in 2014, a prize awarded for Dutch movies that attract more than 100,000 visitors.