Documentaries are dominating the streaming TV space as of late and there are quite a few worth your time this month. From music legend Tina Turner to the college admissions scandal to Q-Anon to the Woody Allen versus Mia Farrow saga, the recent releases by HBO and Netflix prove that truth is still stranger than fiction, especially when the people involved have different versions. The best docs give us detailed facts and participants willing to share everything so that we can consider our own opinions, as most of these films do.
Allen v. Farrow
Woody Allen’s transgressions and alleged abuses are well documented. His adopted daughter Dylan Farrow says that the director molested her as a child in her mother Mia Farrow’s Connecticut home. Just before this occurred in 1992, Farrow found naked pictures of her other, college-aged daughter Soon Yi Previn, at Woody’s apartment; they had clearly been having an affair. In the HBO docuseries Allen vs. Farrow, the whole sordid family drama is aired out, and while it is slanted in Farrow’s favor, it’s got the eye witnesses and research to back up its stances. The four-part exploration directed by Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering (who tackled similar territory in On the Record, about the sexual misconduct in the hip-hop world) makes a compelling case against Allen with never before seen documents, sworn testimony and interviews. Dylan is not only believable but assured, as are the siblings who appear and share their memories and perspectives. Farrow too, seems relatable and real here though anyone who’s followed her story or sought to understand both sides of her and Woody’s union and breakup might have shreds of doubt about her intentions and even psyche. If you want to explore this more, as sort of a balance to what’s presented in HBO’s docuseries, Oh By The Way, Woody Allen is Innocent on You Tube, equally biased -in Allen’s favor- is a good comprehensive start. After viewing both we still feel Allen v. Farrow, and Dylan in particular, more credible. Whatever you might believe as a viewer, it’s a fascinating reconsideration of an iconic filmmaker’s artistic choices and personal character that needed to happen now.
Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal
Matthew Modine playing a guy who helps high school students get into fancy colleges by pretending to play sports (and other lies) makes for some interesting irony; older viewers will probably never forget him as a high school wrestler in the Madonna music-fueled 80’s classic Vision Quest. Modine offers a believable portrayal of one slimy silver-haired Rick Singer, the man at the center of the college admissions scandal which involved Hollywood bigwigs and uber-rich power players paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to get their kids into the most prestigious universities in the U.S. Singer promised to provide a “side door” for these families to gain entry via SAT cheating and outright untruths about their athleticism, all without the kids knowing, the later fact many of us probably never really believed. In this absorbing doc, actual phone conversations taped by the FBI are re-enacted, proving that many parents were as focused on the dupe of their sons and daughters as their colleges of choice– to protect both their offspring’s legal liability and just as likely, their snowflakey feelings. This is a story about privilege and how those who have it often don’t even realize it because they have been raised a certain way. Utilizing media footage, interviews and reenactments that are far less esoteric than those in the similarly structured The Social Dilemma, this film looks at how Singer not only worked the system over and over and then did it again, when he threw his cohorts under the bus as an informant. Director Chris Smith (whose doc about the ill fated Fyre festival in 2019 was the better of two that came out) shows off his storytelling skills here just as well, but the celeb-specked scandal and comeuppance-filled climax kinda made that easy.
Murder Among the Mormons
We struggled to stay with this three-part series from filmmakers Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite) and Tyler Measom (Jesus Town, USA) about Mormonism and misconduct of many types. The religion serves as basis of the story, which also explores forgery of historical documents and an incident involving a bombing and a double murder. Okay it sounds intriguing, but somehow it’s not. The film presents a complicated tale in a formulaic way, but mostly, it’s the lack of charisma from all involved that make this one a meh.
Q- Into The Storm
As they did with Allen vs. Farrow, HBO is rolling out the new Q-Anon doc in weekly increments, which might be frustrating for bingers but makes for anticipatory viewing or what programming exec’s like to call “event TV.” Q-Anon and its followers are pretty fascinating no matter what side you are on politically, though middle/right-leaning folks are surely embarrassed by them. This thorough look at the conspiracy group and its origins and key players wont help matters. Some come off reasonably intelligent, while others come off as total wackadoodles. The code words, the wild theories, the in-fighting and of course, the salaciousness involving movie stars and baby blood drinking are fascinating to hear explained, especially by people who believe it all, and so far the first couple episodes have packed a lot in. You might even have to re-watch to fully understand the computer nerd/web-centric components and how everyone fits together. Part one explained how it all started online via 4chan, social media and a slew of You Tube channels and podcasts, while Part 2 featured 8chan founder Frederick Brennan and father/son duo Jim and Ron Watkins, who took over 2016. As of now, director/narrator/interviewer Cullen Hobeck seems focused on one question: who is Q? Yeah we all wanna know, but a lot more context is needed and hopefully coming. This insidery look is understandably not very relatable, but it’s also not very critical, and we probably all agree that after the Capitol insurrection and Trump’s attempted gaslighting of the country about election fraud, critique and tough questions for Q are a must.
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