Apparently, the word "documentary" has changed. No longer are film makers interested in telling true stories and digging through evidence, rumor, and bias. I think it's pretty feckless to have a group of paid survivors asked to speak poorly about a man who cannot defend himself. It's one thing to speak ill of the dead but another to tear apart his character probably because he was the only adult. Considering how the majority of those children went on to conduct their adult lives, maybe they shouldn't be the first to cast stones. What makes this style of filmmaking worse is that it relies on a handful on "memories" and "wintnesses" who were extremely young at the time. While it was nice to hear some different perspectives, the movie read more as a Mean Girls style "Burn Book" than a piece of thoughtfully crafted Non-Fiction. This includes the politically fraught and careless manner in which all three perpetrators tried and paroled. If you're a real documentary lover then skip this one.
Review of Chowchilla
