Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

Instant Favorite.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

In 2001, South African born psychiatrist Dr. Colin Bouwer was sentenced to life in prison with thirteen years non-parole for the murder of his wife, Annette. It took the jury only three hours- including an hour for lunch and a ten minute cigarette break- to sentence Dr. Bouwer, one of the fastest verdicts in New Zealand history."Bloodlines" takes place in Dunedin (where the Bouwer's lived) during late 1999 and early 2000, during that time Dr. Bouwer slowly poisoned Annette by lacing her food with insulin (Annette wasn't diabetic but Dr. Bouwer was able to fake prescriptions for insulin), dangerously lowering her blood sugar levels until Dr. Bouwer gave her an injection of insulin which ended her life there and then. It was only when Annette's GP, Dr. Andrew Bowers, insisted on a last minute post-mortem, and Detective Sergeant Brett Roberts, who wasn't as stupid as Dr Bouwer thought he would be, that sealed the fate of New Zealand's own "Dr. Death".The acting in "Bloodlines" is stellar. Mark Mitchinson is fantastic as Dr. Colin Bouwer; the way he can go from being empathetic and charming one minute to terrifyingly chilling the next is a must watch. Nathalie Boltt is great as the kind but ill fated Annette. Craig Hall is also another great performance to mention; as Dr. Andrew Bowers he puts on a genuinely sympathetic performance as the doctor and family man who's dragged into Dr. Bouwer's web of lies and getting the blame for Annette's death.With great performances all round and a sharp, clever script, "Bloodlines" is anything but your usual portrait of a killer made for TV movie.