Power seeks to protect its interests, inherently — to validate its judgments and its actions, or even inaction. That’s perhaps the most salient, unnerving lesson of The Cheshire Murders, a confounding documentary that can’t quite figure out what stories it wants to tell. And the fact that said point lurks just outside of frame says everything one ultimately needs to know about this dark true crime offering from directors Kate Davis and David Heilbroner, which drops the ball in illuminating with any discernment the tale of a horrible 2007 triple-homicide in Connecticut.

Is The Cheshire Murders about the failure of a broken mental health system? The dark, warping legacy of child abuse, particularly sexual abuse? The equally distorting, sometimes damaging effects of Christian fundamentalism? The heartbreaking story of police incompetence and after-the-fact cover-up? The death penalty writ large, and/or as it intersects with fiscal responsibility? Or just a family’s grief, and the ripples it sends throughout a close-knit community? There is certainly no shortage of subplots, or post-arrest mini-twists to the case, but The Cheshire Murders is a movie with about a dozen different topic sentences, and messy, unfocused editing undoes any satisfying blending together of these disparate elements. For the full, original review, from ShockYa, click here. The Cheshire Murders debuts today on HBO, and plays throughout the month on the channel. Check your local listings for showtimes. (HBO Films, unrated, 117 minutes)