In a senseless act of hatred, openly gay college student Matthew Shepard was murdered in 1998. This critically-acclaimed, moving film recounts the final days of Matthew's killers' trial—and the weeks leading to Matthew's death—with unnerving detail. Stockard Channing delivers an unforgettable, Emmy® Award-winning performance as Matthew's grieving mother, Judy, in a story of a murder that moved a nation to action. Also starring Law & Order's Sam Waterston.
Acting
Stockard Channing's Emmy win is utterly deserved — raw, controlled, shattering.
Direction
Spottiswoode refuses sensationalism; the restraint is devastating.
Writing
Judy Shepard's real testimony shapes the script — authenticity that wounds.
Director
Roger Spottiswoode
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This aired on NBC in 2002, four years after the murder, when 'hate crime' legislation was still stalled federally — Judy Shepard became the face that moved Congress.
Shane Meier, who played Matthew, was a Canadian teen actor who later came out publicly — he described the role as 'carrying someone's ghost.'
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