HBO’s Allen V. Farrow it is an impressive series of documentaries; your emotional intensity should come with a trigger alert. Docuseries examines allegations of sexual abuse against Oscar-winning director Woody Allen made by adopted daughter Dylan Farrow in 1992, when she was just 7 years old. This case has been overly covered by the media for decades, but Allen V. Farrow tries to go beyond the headlines by presenting intimate interviews with Dylan, his mother Mia Farrow (Allen’s former partner), the brothers Ronan and Fletcher Farrow, as well as other family friends, witnesses, experts, journalists and investigators. For the most part, docuseries is a powerful undertaking. It gives Dylan a safe space to report traumatic experiences, go down the rabbit hole of the Farrow-Allen custody battle and find out more about Allen’s marriage to Mia’s adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn. Most importantly, it acts as a damning mirror for the society that allowed Allen to prosper after the accusations became a major public scandal.
THE much time is spent mapping Allen’s rise to an extremely popular figure in New York City and the entertainment industry. In the broader overview of the series, it may help to offer some insights into how he was able to overcome the severity of the accusations to continue winning awards and making films with famous actors. But ssome inclusions seem superfluous, including a particular analysis of Allen’s films like 1979‘s Manhattan, and how they settled on their older character dating younger women. It’s a critical point – maybe enough to do a totally separate journalistic project – but here it seems a little awkward, especially for viewers already familiar with Allen’s body of work.
But Allen V. Farrow it is still a fascinating and often difficult watch. You are on the right track with previous documentaries by 2012 filmmakers Amy Ziering and Kirby Dick The Invisible War, that examined sexual assault in the U.S. military until 2020 In the Registry, one of the most thorough examinations of allegations of sexual harassment against hip-hop mogul Russel Simons. Filmmakers, including Amy Herdy, have spent four years researching the series, and it shows. Allen V. Farrow frames his narrative using reams of legal documents, unpublished images and interviews with witnesses. There are many videos from Dylan’s childhood that show her playing with Allen in the pool, leaving home and traveling the world with other brothers. The footage shows a supposedly happy time, but, as Dylan said in his interview, there was supposed to be more than meets the eye.
Allen V. Farrow A little follows a chronological order, with the first couple of episodes tracking Allen and Mia Farrow’s career, relationship and family growth. Mia, who has not spoken much in public for several years, reflects on her relationship with Allen, calling him her biggest regret. “It’s my fault. I brought this guy to our family. There’s nothing I can do to eliminate this,” says Farrow. In an agonizing scene, she describes the day she found her daughter Soon-Yi’s revealing Polaroids in the apartment Allen, when hell finally started.
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The documentary continues to provide granular details of the battle for custody, as well as police investigations against Allen in the states of New York and Connecticut. During the custody trial and in media appearances (included in clips), Allen claimed that Mia trained Dylan to lie. He tried to paint his ex as a scorned woman, an incredibly resonant example of gas lighting. Allen, Previn and Moses, his adopted son with Mia, refused to be interviewed for the docuseries. Moses is the only member of the large family who officially registered his father’s side. Allen’s appearances in Allen V. Farrow are largely through secretly recorded calls between him and Mia and audio clips from his 2020 audiobook, The purpose of nothing. The documentary examines the flawed way in which the Yale New Haven Clinic conducted Dylan’s post-allegation assessment. Frank Maco, the prosecutor at the time, is also interviewed. It was his decision that prevented the case from being tried because he did not think Dylan was in the state to testify. No criminal charges have been filed against Allen.
The emotional anchor of Allen V. Farrow it’s Dylan, who finally manages to tell his story patiently. It is painful to see her recount the traumas she experienced from a very young age, starting with Allen’s possessiveness for her (here corroborated by interviews with different people: nannies, tutor, brothers, family friends, the mother). At one point, she has a visceral physical reaction similar to a panic attack while thinking about it all. These are not easy things to remember, let alone speak and be judged by the public. But filmmakers do an admirable job of giving her time and space to discuss the subject. The most exciting part comes from the videos of Dylan as a child, which Mia filmed for two days, in which she describes details of the sexual assault of which she accuses Allen. Fair warning: the description can be graphic.
But Allen V. Farrow he doesn’t want to define Dylan just by his past. “I’m tired of feeling that he is more important than me,” she says at the end, as she reflects on why she started talking more at the beginning of the #MeToo era. Allen V. Farrow it also ends up being a hard-hitting story about celebrity worship and celebrity culture that inevitably creates a landscape that impacts justice in cases like this. Ultimately, it is a series of intriguing documents that will interest those who have invested in the case to reexamine it through the lens of four attractive, often uncomfortable episodes.