As a country with the lowest population density in the world and the lowest crime rate, this pastoral country Iceland rarely finds a murder case. <Out of Thin Air>, however, shows a story of the most notorious murder case in the history of Iceland. As two unrelated men were missing in 1974, the case started and seemed to end as six young people were arrested under the charge of murders. But this case has much more complicated truth behind it.

After 40 years later, this case became a subject for retrial. How come they were sentenced for murder with no material evidence or corpses. This case began with confession, and only that confession led to the verdict. The fear created by oppressive atmosphere during interrogation, in solitary confinement for a long time, manipulated memories and facts. This case became a symbol that public madness, media and power transformed young people into devil incarnates and monsters. It is also a reason that the current law protects the Corroboration of the Confession Rule(when the confession is the only evidence, it can’t be declared guilty).

The film starts as if mystery genre. Landscape in night, showing closed-up body parts, startled eyes and two young women going into the prison and so on. Represented images begin to connect like fragmented puzzle pieces and the voice of a narrator reflecting the case starts the story. The film adopts various documentary techniques such as professional interviews, images recorded in the past, representation of the case and the narrative depending on subjective memories in current viewpoint. [Lim Sea-eun]