documentaries Archives

Review: ‘The Fox Hollow Murders: Playground of a Serial Killer,’ starring Jeff Jellison, Chris Schmidt, Shannon Doughty, Debbie Falls, Rob Garvey and Mark Goodyear

November 2, 2025

by Carla Hay

“The Fox Hollow Murders: Playground of a Serial Killer”

Directed by Alex Jablonski

Culture Representation: The four-episode docuseries “The Fox Hollow Murders: Playground of a Serial Killer” features an all-white group of people who discuss their connections to the cases of missing or murdered men who are widely believed to be victims of Westfield, Indiana-based suspected serial killer Herb Baumeister, who committed suicide in 1996, at the age of 49, without being arrested for his suspected crimes.

Culture Clash: Baumeister, a thrift-store entrepreneur who was married to a woman and had children with her, lived a double life of having male lovers whom he would meet in his local gay bar scene, and many of those men were found dead on Baumeister’s farm property.

Culture Audience: “The Fox Hollow Murders: Playground of a Serial Killer” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in true crime documentaries about murders and missing persons cases that are still unsolved.

Mark Goodyear in “The Fox Hollow Murders: Playground of a Serial Killer” (Photo courtesy of ABC News/Hulu)

“The Fox Hollow Murders: Playground of a Serial Killer” can be both fascinating and frustrating in how it presents the bizarre, disturbing and complicated mystery of at least 10 men who were found murdered on an 18-acre property called Fox Hollow Farm in Westfield, Indiana, in 1996. Unidentified bones indicate that a lot more men were probably murdered but have not yet been identified. These cases have remained legally unsolved. This four-episode true crime docuseries is uneven but compelling. It has the first on-camera, non-disguised media interview with Mark Goodyear, the ex-lover of suspected serial killer Herb Baumeister. Goodyear’s interview will infuriate many viewers.

Directed by Alex Jablonski, “The Fox Hollow Murders: Playground of a Serial Killer” also has interviews with several law enforcement officials; family members and friends of some of missing or murdered men who were linked to Baumeister; a journalist who’s covered this mystery for years; a former employee of Baumeister’s; the current owner of Fox Hollow Farm; and filmmakers Jane Gerlach and Russ Walker, whose documentary work on this case is included in much of “The Fox Hollow Murders: Playground of a Serial Killer.” The docuseries is not a biography of Baumeister but is an examination of the theories and investigations that have kept much of this mystery unsolved. By the end of the documentary, many viewers will get the feeling that Baumeister did not act alone.

Episode 1, titled “The Lost Boys,” features information on some of the missing or murdered men who are believed to be victims of Baumeister. Episode 2, titled “A House With Good Bones,” has details about Fox Hollow Farm, including footage filmed on the property for the documentary. Episode 3, titled “Answer the Riddle,” is about a riddle that Goodyear has posed to investigators that strongly hints that Goodyear knows more than he’s telling. Episode 4, titled “No Longer Forgotten,” mainly consists of the on-camera interview with Goodyear, whose stories have changed over the years, but he continues to insist that he never murdered anyone and doesn’t know where the missing people are.

Baumeister was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, on April 7, 1947. His father (who had the same name) was an anesthesiologist. His mother was a homemaker/socialite. Baumeister was the oldest of four children. Baumeister’s troubled youth is briefly mentioned in the documentary. According to several reports, he had an obsession with urine and dead animals. At school, he would urinate on teachers’ desks or put dead animals on teachers’ desks. Since his youth, Baumeister showed signs of urophilia, which is getting sexually aroused by urine.

He was diagnosed with having paranoid schizophrenia and antisocial personality disorder, but Baumeister did not receive significant psychiatric treatment until shortly after he married Juliana “Julie” Saiter in November 1971. About six months after the marriage, Baumeister was sent to a psychiatric facility for about two months. That’s the last known time he reportedly received intensive mental health treatment.

Baumeister bounced around from job to job and eventually founded the Sav-A-Lot thrift store chain in Indianapolis in 1988, the same year that he purchased Fox Hollow Farm. Baumeister and his wife had three children. The children’s names will not be mentioned in this review to protect their privacy. No one in Baumeister’s family is interviewed in this documentary. However, it’s widely known public information that Baumeister’s wife is the person who contacted authorities in June 1996, after she and Baumeister had separated, and she had filed for divorce.

In 1994, one of the Baumeister children had actually found a partial human skeleton buried on the property, but Baumeister explained that it was a scientific skeleton that was used by Baumeister’s doctor father. By 1994, authorities had heard rumors that Baumeister was linked to missing gay men in the area, with at least one witness identifying Baumeister as the likely suspect, but the Baumeister spouses refused permission for law enforcement to search their property. However, by June 1996, with Baumeister’s marriage ending, and his estranged wife feeling that she could be in danger, she finally allowed police to search the property.

An extensive search revealed about 10,000 human bones at Fox Hollow Farm. A warrant went out for Baumeister’s arrest, but he escaped to the Canadian province of Ontario. He committed suicide on July 3, 1996, by shooting himself in the head at Pinery Provincial Park in Grand Bend, Ontario. Baumeister left a three-page suicide note with an apology to his family but no admission or information about the missing and murdered men he was suspected of killing.

A shocking statistic mentioned in the documentary is that until the 9/11 tragedy at New York City’s World Trade Center in 2001, the Fox Hollow Farm property held the record for the most bones of murdered people at a single location in the United States. It’s widely believed that the murder victims were killed at Fox Hollow Farm when Baumeister’s wife and children were away. There’s been speculation that Baumeister could have been the unidentified serial killer nicknamed the I-70 Strangler, who murdered numerous gay men (who were usually last seen at gay bars in Indianapolis) and whose bodies were dumped near Interstate 70, from 1980 to 1991. Baumeister was officially named a suspect in those murders.

Jeff Jellison, a coroner for Indiana’s Hamilton County, has been leading the investigation to identify all the people whose bones were found at Fox Hollow Farm. One of the criticisms against law enforcement in this case was how Baumeister was able to get away so easily, when other murder suspects would have been under heavy surveillance before being arrested. Many people believe that Baumeister’s status and image as an upper-middle-class member of the community gave him privileges and lenience that other people wouldn’t have had.

Jellison, who was never responsible for arresting Baumeister, comments on why he thinks Baumeister was never arrested: “Having a serial killer in this county, I think really caught people off guard.” He describes the county as a “bedroom community” that is very Republican, affluent and very conservative, with a low murder rate. (Obviously, the murder rate wasn’t that low if 10,000 bones were found at Fox Hollow Farm.) He says in the 1990s, this part of Indiana was much more conservative than it is now.

The documentary interviews two openly gay men who were part of the gay nightclub scene in Indianapolis in the 1990s. Steve Warman (who was a bartender) and Mark Lee (a photographer) both say that homophobia is why these murder cases were treated as low priorities by local law enforcement. Lee says, “We [gay men] were targeted by the police and everyone in the community. The gay bars were the one place where we felt safe.”

Warman comments that the gay clubs in the area had to be hidden at the time. He adds that when gay men went missing in the area, many people assumed that that it had to do with dying from AIDS. Mary Wilson, a detective with the Indianapolis Police Department, says that many of the missing gay men were estranged from their families, so the men weren’t reported missing for a while. Laura Musall, a former journalist for the Noblesville Daily Ledger in Indiana, says that Hamilton County law enforcment botched the case against Baumeister but commends Hamilton County for reviving the investigation to identify as many of the murder victims as possible.

The documentary admirably gives some loved ones of the victims a chance to talk about their loved ones who had this tragic end. Allen Livingston went missing on August 6, 1993, when he was 27. His remains were found at Fox Hollow Farm, but his remains were not identified until 2023. His mother Sharon Livingston, his sister Sharon Doughty and his cousin Eric Pranger all describe Allen as a people-loving individual who had a “goofy” side to him.

Also interviewed is Debbie Falls, the sister of Richard Hamilton Jr., a Fox Hollow Farm murder victim who disappeared in July 2023, when he was 20. Hamilton’s remains were identified in 1996. She describes him as someone who had a zest for life who was probably lured to his death by someone whom he thought he could trust. Another interviewee is Adam Williams, son of missing person Jerry Williams-Comer, who was 34 when Williams-Comer went missing on August 8, 1995. Police have since linked Baumeister to the disappearance of Williams-Comer, whose remains have not been found or identified.

Dixie Prichard, who used to work at Sav-A-Lot, says that Baumeister was a very weird boss. According to Prichard, Baumeister liked to keep rotting food in a file cabinet. She also remembers that he kept an overabundance of mannequins in his office. When police searched the Baumeister home in 1996, they found several mannequins in the house, with many of the mannequins posed around the swimming pool and in a lounge area with a pool table.

Rob Garvey, the current owner of Fox Hollow who is interviewed in this documentary, is a contradictory and very eccentric person. He seems proud about owning a place where numerous murdered people were buried. He’s written a non-fiction book about it. In the documentary, Garvey shows off much of his collection of Baumeister personal memorabilia and Baumeister scrapbooks in the documentary. And yet, he says it’s tacky when people are obsessed with serial killers and profit off of serial killers.

Garvey says, “I didn’t have any interest in serial killers until I bought a house possibly owned by a serial killer.” Garvey then makes this disgusting “pun” joke: “The house didn’t do anything. It had ‘good bones,’ if you will.” Garvey also says he had a Catholic priest and an Indian shaman bless the house after he purchased Fox Hollow Farm. He also says he believes the ghost of Baumeister haunts the house, but as long as the ghost leaves Garvey and his family alone, Garvey is okay with it.

Even more peculiar is the interview with Goodyear, who is hyper, fidgety and wildly inappropriate in how he often laughs about his role in this case. Goodyear is also seen doing a walkthrough of Fox Hollow, where he says he gets the chills being back there, but he gives the impression that he’s probably enjoying the visit back to Fox Hollow. In parts of the interview, his face is not shown on camera. But at some point, Goodyear changed his mind and agreed to do his first on-camera interview showing his face. Fox Hollow homeowner Garvey greets Goodyear like a family friend.

In June 1996, Goodyear went to local authorities to say that Baumeister tried to kill him shortly after he met Baumeister in 1994, at the 501 Club, a gay bar in Indianapolis. Goodyear also claimed that Baumeister told Goodyear that Baumeister murdered 56 people. The documentary includes some archival video footage of Goodyear’s 1996 interview with police. Goodyear’s stories have changed over the years, but one thing he’s been consistent about is saying that he and Baumeister were on-again/off-again lovers who were part of the gay bar scene in the Indianapolis area.

In his June 1996 witness statement, Goodyear told police that in 1994, Baumeister, whom he knew at the time as Brian, took Goodyear back to Fox Hollow Farm, where they had sex, and Brian tried to get Goodyear to reciprocate the erotic asphyxiation that Brian was doing to Goodyear. Goodyear also claimed that Brian gave him a glass of liquor, but he poured out the contents of the glass because he didn’t trust Brian enough to drink it. Goodyear’s witness statement and other people’s witness statements were enough to name Baumeister as the prime suspect in cases of missing and murdered gay/queer men in the area.

In later years, Goodyear has given interviews where he says he knew Baumeister a lot longer than he originally claimed. The documentary mentions a man named LeRoy Bray, who gave a witness statement to the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office in 1997 about how he was at Fox Hollow Farm for a small party when he witnessed the murder of a man named Rick “Dog” Rigney, who went missing that year. Bray said that he saw Goodyear hold down Rigney, while Baumeister shot Rigney to death. The whereabouts of Bray are currently unknown.

When confronted with this information, Goodyear doesn’t immediately deny it but instead asks if Bray said what year this murder took place. Goodyear denies in this documentary interview and in other interviews that he ever killed anyone or knows anything about what happened to the missing people who were linked to Baumeister, whom Goodyear describes as a cocaine abuser. It’s pointed out in the documentary that Baumeister was not a strong or tall man, and it’s very unlikely that Baumeister would be able to carry and bury all of those bodies by himself. Did he have an accomplice?

The documentary mentions that on July 5, 1996, two days after Baumeister committed suicide, his attorney John Engloff came forward and told an investigator named Todd Urick that in November 1995, Baumeister gave a warning about Goodyear (who is very tall) and said that Goodyear was very dangerous. No further details about Engloff’s statement were given in the documentary. Goodyear has this to say about Baumeister in the documentary interview: “He was trying to take me down with him. But guess what? He’s fucking dead, ain’t he?”

In the documentary interview, Goodyear also says he not only lied to police about Baumeister trying to murder him, but he also lied about the part of the story where he suspected that Baumeister tried to drug Goodyear. In his changed story, Goodyear now says that he was the one who drugged Baumeister. Goodyear also claims that on another occasion, Baumeister showed Goodyear some burning bodies in the backyard of Fox Hollow Farm. Goodyear says that in June 1996, he and Baumeister watched news reports about the search of Fox Hollow Farm.

Goodyear has never been named as a suspect by police and has not been charged with any crimes related to this mystery. In the documentary, Gerlach says that Goodyear once wrote her a letter with this riddle, where he admitted that Baumeister never tried to kill him. In the letter, Goodyear wrote: “I was never attacked. I am not a murderer. Exactly what am I? Tell me what I am. Not an accomplice, not a victim, never attacked. What am I?”

In the documentary, Goodyear says he and Baumeister had a twisted relationship where they stalked each other. Goodyear also claims that on multiple occasions, when he would be at a gay bar with Baumeister, Goodyear would yell out to anyone listening that Baumeister was a serial killer and no one should leave the bar with Baumeister. Goodyear claims that Baumeister’s reaction was to laugh and act like it was a joke. There is no corroboration of this story. Goodyear admits that he lied in the past about certain things about this case, so his credibility is very questionable.

Dr. Chris Schmidt, a forensic anthropologist who is an expert in solving cold cases, says in the documentary that if Baumeister had been such a prolific serial killer, it’s very unlikely that Baumeister acted alone because of the physical strength required to bury all of those bodies. Unless there is DNA evidence or a confession that can be proven, it’s unlikely that these murders will officially be solved. However, investigators are still working on identifying all the people whose bones were found at Fox Hollow Farm.

Other people interviewed in the documentary include people who’ve been directly involved in the investigation, such as Hamilton County coroner Jared Privett; David Allender of the Indianapolis Police Department’s Missing Persons Unit; Kathleen Clark, former Hamilton County deputy prosecutor; Sonia Leerkamp, former Hamilton County prosecutor; and cadaver dog handlers Erica Blackburn and Chelsea Gill. The documentary credits Hamilton County coroner Jellison with being one of the biggest heroes in this mystery, because he has tirelessly kept the investigation going to identify as many of the murder victims as possible.

“The Fox Hollow Murders: Playground of a Serial Killer” is the type of docuseries that probably should have been three episodes instead of four episodes because there’s some redundancy that could have been cut from the series. The movie’s editing also could have been assembled better, because there’s a lot of back-and-forth timeline jumping in the documentary’s narrative. The killer or killers these murder victims might not be brought to justice. However, this documentary brings more public awareness that the investigation is ongoing, and it’s still possible for loved ones of the missing and murdered people to get more uncovered information about what happened to their loved ones.

Hulu premiered “The Fox Hollow Murders: Playground of a Serial Killer” on February 18, 2025.

Review: ‘Wisdom of Happiness,’ starring the 14th Dalai Lama

November 1, 2025

by Carla Hay

“Wisdom of Happiness”

Directed by Barbara Miller and Philip Delaquis

Culture Representation: The documentary film “Wisdom of Happiness” features a monologue from the 14th Dalai Lama, the leader of Tibetan Buddhism.

Culture Clash: The 14th Dalai Lama talks about his life and shares advice for inner and outer happiness.

Culture Audience: “Wisdom of Happiness” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the Dalai Lama and other spiritual leaders, but this slow-moving and repetitive documentary offers very basic and cliché advice.

An archival photo of the 14th Dalai Lama in “Wisdom of Happiness” (Photo courtesy of Abramorama)

The Dalai Lama’s messages about peace and love are admirable, but this mishandled documentary presents those messages as a rambling, extremely repetitive Dalai Lama monologue, with many visual images that belong in an infomercial. “Wisdom of Happiness” is a 94-minute movie, but it should’ve been a movie that’s 30 minutes or less because what’s said in the movie is repeated to the point of irritation. The film editing is simply awful because it fails to rein in the redundant content and lets it turn “Wisdom of Happiness” into a bloated and boring movie.

Directed by Barbara Miller and Philip Delaquis, “Wisdom of Happiness” has the 14th Dalai Lama as the only person speaking in this documentary, which alternates between showing him speaking at a close-up angle and showing various visual images. It’s partly a repeat loop of very generic, common-sense advice and partly the Dalai Lama talking about certain parts of his life. It’s like watching someone famous give a stream-of-consciousness lecture that goes around in circles, but the people in charge of the presentation are too star-struck to do anything about this long-winded preaching.

The 14th Daila Lama (whose birth name is Lhamo Thondup and whose spiritual name is Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, shortened as Tenzin Gyatso) was born in 1935 and became the 14th Dalai Lama in 1939. He was born in Takster, Tibet, and came from a poor farming family. In the documentary he mentions that his mother was his “real teacher of compassion,” because she gave him unconditional love, and he says he never saw her get angry.

The Dalai Lama also talks about his youth and how Tibet’s clashes with China’s Communist government led to the Tibetan uprising of 1959 and his exile to India, where he has lived ever since. The documentary has some archival footage of the Dalai Lama and Tibetans during this tumultuous period in Tibetan history. The Dalai Lama says he felt “fear, anxiety, doubt and sadness” when he was first exiled, but he found inner strength in his faith.

Most of the Dalai Lama’s “wisdom of happiness” advice consists of very generic statements, such as “The ultimate source of happiness is within yourself” or “So long as you live, serve others, help others, never bring harm on others.” This monologue is interspersed with visual images of nature, architecture, or people (often shown in slow motion) looking happy. A lot of these images are stock images or look like they were filmed for a spiritual retreat advertisement.

Just because a documentary has a famous person as the star of the documentary doesn’t mean that the documentary’s filmmaking is automatically good. The Dalai Lama deserves better for his inspiring messages than this dreadfully tedious documentary that is very likely to put people to sleep.

Abramorama released “Wisdom of Happiness” in select U.S. cinemas on October 17, 2025.

Review: ‘I Was Born This Way,’ starring Carl Bean, Billy Porter, Lady Gaga, Dionne Warwick, Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson, Estelle Brown and Martha Payne

October 31, 2025

by Carla Hay

“I Was Born This Way”

Directed by Daniel Junge and Sam Pollard

Culture Representation: The documentary film “I Was Born This Way” features a predominantly African American group of people (with a few white people) who discuss the life and career of Carl Bean, who went from being a professional singer to becoming an archbishop LGBTQ activist.

Culture Clash: Bean (who experienced racism, homophobia and sexual abuse) was often misunderstood, degraded and underestimated when fighting for causes that he advocated.

Culture Audience: “I Was Born This Way” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in documentaries about lesser-known civil rights activists from the LGBTQ community.

A 1977 promotional photo of Carl Bean in “I Was Born This Way” (Photo courtesy of I Was Born This Way Production LLC)

“I Was Born This Way” is a worthy tribute to Carl Bean, who was an archbishop, former disco singer, and overlooked pioneer in LGBTQ civil rights activism. The documentary’s old interviews with Bean (who died in 2021) and others make it look a bit outdated. These interviews don’t lessen the film’s intentions or the quality of the stories told in the documentary, but “I Was Born This Way” gives the impression that the filmmakers didn’t get more recent interviews before this documentary was released in 2025.

Directed by Daniel Junge and Sam Pollard, “I Was Born This Way” had its world premiere at the 2025 Tribeca Festival. Bean sat down for an exclusive interview for the documentary, which uses his storytelling as the driving narrative. Several other people who knew Bean and/or were influenced by him are also interviewed for “I Was Born This Way.”

Bean (who is quite a raconteur in this documentary) died of a prolonged undisclosed illness on September 7, 2021. He was 77. Throughout the documentary there is animation showing re-enactments of the stories that Bean and other people tell because many of the stories don’t have enough photos or other archival footage to serve as visual demonstrations. The animation (which is competently made and has some melodramatic moments) might get various reactions from viewers, since this animation takes up a great screen time in the documentary.

The documentary “I Was Born This Way” begins by showing Billy Porter arriving at the home of Chris Jones, who is an archivist of recordings that Bean did when he was a disco/R&B singer in the 1970s. Chris Jones is the son of the late Bunny Jones, who wrote Bean’s most famous song: 1977’s “Born This Way.” Porter and Chris Jones meet each other for the first time and greet each other warmly.

Why is Porter at Chris Jones’ home? The documentary shows Porter there to hear unreleased recordings made by Bean and look at some rare memorabilia of Bean. Porter comments in the documentary, “I’m excited to hold history in my hands. This song [‘Born This Way’] was very important … for little gay boys like me.” Much later in the documentary, Porter is seen re-recording the Bean song “Liberation,” a song that was supposed to be the B-side to “Born This Way” but was unreleased because the lyrics to “Liberation” were considered “too gay” at the time.

Grammy-winning musician and Oscar-winning director Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson has this to say about “I Was Born This Way,” when he comments on the song while looking through vinyl records at a music store: “This song was ahead of its time …. This one song started a revolution.”

In the documentary, Bean tells his life story in chronological order. He talks candidly about his troubled childhood (he grew up in Baltimore), where he survived bullying from his peers, physical abuse from his father, sexual abuse from an uncle (his father’s brother), a suicide attempt by overdosing on pills, and the traumatic aftermath of his mother’s death from a then-illegal abortion. Bean was raised by his godparents because his biological parents were too young when they became parents to Bean.

Bean says, “From a young age, I knew I was different.” He adds, “Music oozed out of me.” Bean mentions that Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers (best known for the 1956 hit “Why Do Fools Fall in Love”) had a tremendous influence on him to want to become a professional singer. Bean also says that when he was a child, he was sexually abused “too many times to count.” bean says when he told his father about the sexual abuse, his father severely punished him. During Bean’s childhood and for much of his life, Bean says he was plagued by frequent nightmares of being chased by a phantom.

Bean’s sister Martha Payne, who says Bean’s childhood nickname was Sammy, has this description of what Bean was like as a child: “He liked doll houses, cheerleading, baton twirlin. He never pretended to be anything other than he was.” When Bean was bullied by his peers, Payne says that he took it in stride. “When he was singing, he was at his happiest.”

As a teenager, his suicide attempt led to him being put in a psychiatric ward at a hospital, where his mother happened to work as a custodian. Bean remembers his mother assuring him during this hospital stay that there were other queer kids who existed too. She encouraged him to become a singer.

After he was discharged from the hospital, he went to live with his mother, who had two other kids living with her. Bean says this change in his living situation meant that his socioeconomic status went from “middle-class to working-class poor.” While living with his mother, Bean says he got to know a lot of gay and transgender hustlers and sex workers, who accepted him and made him feel like he was part of a community.

Sadly, tragedy struck when his mother died of an illegal abortion. And to add to this devastating loss, Bean says he was forced to testify against the nurse who administered this abortion when the nurse went on trial for murder. Bean moved to New York City after the trial ended.

The middle of the movie chronicles Bean’s up-and-down journey through the music business. After moving to New York City, he became a gospel singer in Harlem’s Christian Tabernacle Choir. Dionne Warwick, Cissy Houston and Estelle Brown were his mentors at the time. Warwick and Brown are interviewed in the documentary.

Warwick says she was impressed very early on with Bean: “He had an incredible voice” Brown says, “I learned a lot from Carl regarding homosexuality.” Brown, who was a member of the gospel group the Sweet Inspirations, mentions that she was a closeted lesbian for most of her life, but her friendship with Bean helped her to eventually come out and live openly as a lesbian.

According to Bean, he got tired of his hard-partying lifestyle in New York City, so he relocated to Los Angeles in the mid-1970s. He also took his music in secular direction by deciding to perform R&B and later disco. Bean formed a band called Carl Bean and Universal Love, where he was the lead singer. And although the band was signed to ABC Records, which released the band’s 1974 album “Universal Love”), the band couldn’t break through to widespread commercial success. Universal Love drummer Royal Anderson is one of the people interviewed in the documentary

Bean then launched a solo career as a Motown Records artist during the disco craze of the late 1970s. “I Was Born This Way” (written by Chris Spierer and Bunny Jones) was originally recorded by singer Valentino in 1975. Bean’s 1977 version of the song, which was a hit on the disco charts, stood the test of time longer. Bean is singer more likely to be associated with “I Was Born This Way,” which is credited with being the first gay anthem to become a mainstream hit. In the documentary, Iris Gordy—a former Motown Records executive and a niece of Motown founder Berry Gordy—makes brief comments about Bean and “I Was Born This Way.”

Why was “Born This Way” co-written by a woman who identified as heterosexual? Chris Jones explains in the documentary that his mother Bunny Jones had a hair salon and knew a lot of gay/queer people because of the salon. Fun fact: Bunny Jones was the first black woman to own a nationally prominent recording studio in the United States: She founded Astral recording studio in 1971, in New York City’s East Harlem district. Bunny Jones also founded Gaiee Records, which released Valentino’s version of “I Was Born This Way,” and she subsequently sold Gaiee to Motown

Disco’s popularity, like Bean’s music career, eventually faded. He then made a career transition to being a full-time LGBTQ activist. In 1985, he founded the Minority AIDS Project as a way to help people of color during the AIDS crises. And in response to seeing many LGBTQ people being shunned and bullied by church communities, Bean founded his own queer-friendly ministry— Unity Fellowship Church—and became an archbishop. Unity Fellowship Church, which began in Los Angeles, has expanded its congregations to other U.S. cities.

Lady Gaga gives an emotionally candid interview in the documentary about how her hit song “Born This Way” (the title track of her 2011 second album) was directly influenced by Bean’s version of “I Was Born This Way.” She admits that she didn’t know much about Bean when she first heard the song. Lady Gaga (who is outspoken advocate for LGBTQ people) comments, “When I learned about what Carl did not just as a singer but as an activist, it made my heart explode.”

The most meaningful parts of the documentary aren’t about the glitz and glamour of showbiz but about how Bean took his pain as an abuse survivor and channeled it into many positive things in his life, including helping people who are often mistreated, abused or neglected. The documentary includes footage of Ben doing some of this activism, as well as his interactions with his vibrant Unity Fellowship Church congregation. Bean’s close confidant Rev. Dr. Russell E. Thornhill is interviewed in the documentary.

Although documentary shows Bean going into details about many aspects of his life, he doesn’t reveal anything much his love life except to say that he’s gay. Bean briefly mentions he’s been been heartbroken many times, but he doesn’t go into specifics. He takes the same approach about his health issues. Ultimately, “I Was Born This Way” did not have to be a “tell-all” documentary. The movie capably shows that Bean left a very admirable and impactful legacy that changed many people’s lives for the better.

Jungefilm released “I Was Born This Way” in Los Angeles on October 30, 2025.

Review: ‘Depeche Mode: M,’ starring Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Christian Eigner and Peter Gordeno

October 30, 2025

by Carla Hay

“Depeche Mode: M”

Directed by Fernando Frías

Some language in Spanish with subtitles

Culture Representation: The documentary film “Depeche Mode M” features a white and Latin group of people who are participants, audience members or connected in some way to British rock band Depeche Mode’s September 2023 concerts at Foro Sol stadium in Mexico City, Mexico.

Culture Clash: The documentary has themes of Mexico’s cultural relationship with death.

Culture Audience: “Depeche Mode: M” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of Depeche Mode and rock concert documentaries that have artsy and poetic touches.

Dave Gahan and Martin Gore in “Depeche Mode: M” (Photo by Toni François/Trafalgar Releasing)

“Depeche Mode: M,” filmed during the band’s Mexico City concerts in 2023, does something different from a typical concert documentary: including Spanish-language literature readings in between the on-stage footage. The live performance is good, not great.

The set list selected for this concert includes generous selections of Depeche Mode songs from all the decades of the band’s existence so far, from Depeche Mode’s 1980s origins to 2023. (The electro pop-rock band was formed in 1980 in Basildon, England.) But with only 16 songs as part of this 100-minute documentary’s performance set list, the documentary has inevitable omissions from Depeche Mode’s greatest hits.

Directed by Fernando Frías (also known as Fernando Frías de la Parra), “Depeche Mode: M” has footage from three sold-out Depeche Mode shows at the stadium Foro Sol on September 21, September 23 and September 25, 2023. A estimated total of 190,000 people attended all three concerts, which were part of Depeche Mode’s world tour in support of Depeche Mode’s 2023 album “Memento Mori.” “Depeche Mode: M” had its world premiere at the 2025 Tribeca Festival.

In Spanish, “Memento Mori” means “Remember you must die.” Themes of life and death are intertwined throughout the concert. In between the song performances are filmed interludes of poetry that is read in Spanish, with several artistically filmed montages (often in black and white) of images, such as Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) mementos or a man dressed all in white and wearing angel wings. Daniel Giménez Cacho is the main narrator for these literature readings. In these filmed interludes, the documentary occasionally shows fans from Mexico who talk about what Depeche Mode means to them.

The movie begins with a voiceover of Cacho saying that a daily sacrifice of blood is necessary for the survival of humanity according to ancient Mexican (Aztec) culture. The narration adds that there are nine levels to achieve salvations. Later in the documentary, during one of the poetry interludes, a portion of José María Heredia’s sonnet about Cato the Younger is read about Cato’s form of justice while a haunting image of a swamp is shown on screen.

Lead singer Dave Gahan and keyboardist/guitarist Martin Gore are the only two remaining original members of Depeche Mode who are still in the band. The “Memento Mori” album and tour were the first since the death of Depeche Mode co-founder/keyboardist Andy Fletcher, who died in 2022, after an aortic dissection. Fletcher was 60 years old. Depeche Mode’s touring lineup is rounded out by drummer/keyboardist Christian Eigner – drums, keyboards (who’s been touring with Depeche Mode since 1997) and keyboardist/bass guitarist Peter Gordeno (who’s been touring with Depeche Mode since 1998).

The opening song (“My Cosmos Is Mine” from “Memento Mori”) starts off with black and white lighting before the stage is bathed in a warm gold lighting. The cinematography is captivating and immersive. However, it takes a while for the energy level to pick up during the band’s performance. By the ninth song (“A Pain That I’m Used To” from Depeche Mode’s 2005 album “Playing the Angel”), the band gets into a vibrant groove that remains for most of the concert.

Gahan still has a few vestiges of the 1980s New Wave image of Depeche Mode (eye makeup), but his stage performance is much more polished, coordinated and relaxed, compared to the gangly jerking style he had in the band’s early years. At times, Gahan sways his arms back and forth above his head, like an aerobics instructor. Other times, he twirls around like rock version of Houdini. During “A Pain That I’m Used To,” he grabs his crotch in a way that might remind people of Mick Jagger’s performance style from the 1970s.

Gore has a memorable turn in the spotlight when he sings lead vocals on “Soul With Me” (from “Memento Mori”), but he lets Gahan do all the talking on stage. And there isn’t much on-stage banter. After “Soul With Me,” Gahan does an enthusiastic introduction of his band mates and saying that Gore has a “wonderful, angelic voice.”

In between the seventh song “Speak to Me” and eighth song “Soul With Me,” visual artist Joshua Ellingson is shown in a filmed interlude where he talks about Depeche Mode’s influence on his art. Ellingson also mentions his version of his “Pepper’s Ghost” project. There are also striking images of analog TV sets stacked on top of each other like a pyramid, which was a popular type of art installation in the 1980s.

A performance highlights in the documentary is a lively extended version of “Enjoy the Silence” (from Depeche Mode’s 1990 “Violator” album), which has the massive crowd singing along to all the words. Gahan holds up a silk Mexican flag handed to him by an audience member. The flag has the letter “D” on the left side and the letter “M” on the right side. The documentary has the expected wide-angle interior and exterior shots of the stadium, with occasional close-ups on certain audience members.

Fletcher is given a lovely tribute during the performance of “World in My Eyes,” which features several giant images of Fletcher on video screens. The documentary concludes on a high momentum, with great versions of “Never Let Me Down Again” (from Depeche Mode’s 1987 album “Music for the Masses”) and a rousing rendition of “Personal Jesus” (from the “Violator” album). The songs “Ghost Again” and “In the End” are played during the documentary’s ends credits.

Fans who want to see performances of other Depeche Mode hits, such as 1981’s “Just Can’t Get Enough” or 1993’s “I Feel You” might be disappointed since those songs aren’t in the documentary. (The band did not perform Depeche Mode’s 1984 classic “People Are People” during the “Momento Mori” tour.) A longer compilation of songs from Depeche Mode’s 2023 concerts in Mexico City are on the band’s live album titled “Memento Mori: Mexico City,” whose release date is December 5, 2025.

Here is the complete set list for “Depeche Mode: M”

My Cosmos is Mine
Wagging Tongue
It’s No Good
Everything Counts
My Favorite Stranger
Sister of Night
Speak to Me
Soul With Me
A Pain That I’m Used To
Wrong
Stripped
World in My Eyes
Enjoy the Silence
Condemnation
Never Let Me Down Again
Personal Jesus

End credits songs:

Ghost Again
In the End

Trafalgar Releasing released “Depeche Mode: M” in U.S. cinemas on October 28, 2025. Sony Music Entertainment will release the movie onm Blu-ray and DVD on December 5, 2025.

Review: ‘Predators’ (2025), starring Chris Hansen, Mark de Rond, Dani Jayden, Casey Mauro, Dan Schrack, John Roach and David Osit

October 30, 2025

by Carla Hay

Archival footage of “To Catch a Predator” in “Predators” (Photo courtesy of MTV Documentary Films)

“Predators” (2025)

Directed by David Osit

Culture Representation: The documentary film “Predators” features a predominantly white group of people (with one multi-racial person and one African American) who discuss their connections to filming police sting operations that arrest suspected sexual predators who are accused of targeting underage victims.

Culture Clash: Critics of these sting operations say that these operations are a form of entrapment and should not be filmed for profit, while supporters say that these filmed sting operations are a valuable public service.

Culture Audience: “Predators” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in behind-the-scenes information on the people and the consequences involved in these filmed predator stings, but the movie doesn’t interview a wide-enough variety of people to give a comprehensive report.

A re-enactment scene in “Predators” (Photo courtesy of MTV Documentary Films)

The documentary “Predators” can be commended for taking a critical look at questionable tactics used in filming sex predator arrests, but the movie’s investigations are flawed. The film’s tone is a little too sympathetic to the suspects caught in the act. Although “Predators” has interviews with law enforcement agents, decoys and TV/Internet personalities who are involved in these filmed sting operations, the movie doesn’t have enough perspectives to give a well-rounded report of this complex issue. For example, there are no interviews with real victims/survivors of any convicted sex offenders who were arrested in these stings.

David Osit is the director, cinematographer, editor and one of the producers of “Predators,” which had its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. The movie (which has some re-enactment scenes with actors) looks like it started as a documentary about the rise and fall of the “To Catch a Predator” segment series that was part of NBC’s “Dateline” from 2004 to 2007. But it seems like as time went on, the “Predators” filmmakers decided to make the documentary a wider investigation of how these filmed sting operations have thrived in other ways since the demise of “To Catch a Predator.”

Osit can be heard interviewing people during the documentary, but he doesn’t show his face on camera until the very end, when he does a face-to-face interview with Chris Hansen, the former host of “To Catch a Predator.” This interview is almost presented as a showdown, because Osit says in the documentary’s narration that he used to enjoy watching “To Catch a Predator” when he was a child, but now he thinks “To Catch a Predator” (and copycat shows) are very problematic. Osit says in the documentary’s narration that he is a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, and he believes shows like “To Catch a Predator” don’t properly address the issue of why the suspects (almost all are men) who are arrested for these crimes find themselves in these situations.

“To Catch a Predator” and similar shows use “decoys” (adults posing as underage children who are usually between the ages of 12 to 15) to go online and see which adults will approach them to engage in sexual activity with the adults. The decoys don’t initiate sexual conversations. They wait for the adults to start making the sexual comments. The decoys are often asked to send photos of themselves to the adults who sexually proposition them.

Therefore, the decoys almost always look young enough to pass as an underage child. The decoys also use disguises (such as wigs) to hide some of their real identifying physical features. Most decoys alter their voices to sound younger if they talk to suspects on the phone or in a live video chat.

Where these decoys come from can vary. Some decoys work with non-profit groups that are aimed at fighting sexual predators who target children online. (“To Catch a Predator” worked with a now-defunct non-profit group called Perverted Justice, which provided the show with decoys.) Other decoys are semi-professional actors, while other decoys are not actors but are people who work in law enforcement or who consider themselves to be concerned citizens. Many decoys are also survivors of sexual abuse.

At some point in the predator sting operation, after there is evidence (usually online messages or recorded calls) that the adult is pressuring the decoy to engage in sexual activity with the adult, the decoy will then agree to meet the alleged predator somewhere that the adult wants to meet for the sexual activity. What happens when the adult shows up is then filmed and shown to the public. “To Catch a Predator” and similar shows have usually worked with local law enforcement to coordinate the arrests that take place. The show’s host usually confronts the suspects before suspects are arrested and taken away by police.

“To Catch a Predator” not only showed what these suspects looked like (their faces and voices were never disguised), but the show also revealed the full names and occupations of the arrested people; the names of cities where the suspects lived at the time of the arrest; and the charges against the suspects—always with a disclaimer saying that all arrested suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. (Arrest records for adults are legally public information, so there was no privacy violated when “To Catch a Predator” put this information on TV.) “To Catch a Predator” also showed some of the suspects being questioned by police at the police stations where the suspects were booked.

The documentary “Predators” rightfully points out that a big failing of “To Catch a Predator” was that it never gave updates on the outcomes of the arrested people’s court cases. There was also never any follow-up with the arrested people to see how their lives were impacted by their arrests for sex crimes. “To Catch a Predator” had a stated intent to apprehend suspected predators, with the show implying that something worse could’ve happened if the decoy had been a real child.

The people who were arrested on “To Catch a Predator” came from various walks of life, with some in job positions that children are taught to trust, such as schoolteachers or medical professionals. One arrested person was a rabbi. Another was a former police officer. Some of the arrested were married fathers who had stable and respectable jobs. The message of “To Catch a Predator” was clear: If these are the types of people who are being arrested for sex crimes against children, then these predators are everywhere, and are often people whom you might least suspect.

“To Catch a Predator,” as controversial and disturbing as it was to some people, was very popular when it was on the air. Fans of the show felt that these arrested suspects needed to be publicly exposed for their alleged perversions. Supporters of “To Catch a Predator” and similar shows often compare the shows to being like public service announcements about the dangers that underage kids can experience from sexual predators who look for victims online.

Osit and other critics of “To Catch a Predator” and similar shows say that the problem with this public shaming is that it doesn’t really address the root cause of why these suspected predators allegedly target underage children. Osit says that when he used to watch Hansen ask the suspects why they went out of their way to meet what the suspects thought would be an underage child, it would always frustrate Osit that Hansen would never be able to find out why the alleged predator became this way.

When the suspects on “To Catch a Predator” were asked why they were there to meet up with what they think is an underage child, the suspects usually made the meeting sound like it was going to be wholesome, with no sexual contact. Even when confronted with their sexually explicit email or text messages, the suspects either denied how damning these messages were or insisted that it was the first time they had ever done something like that. Hansen would then lecture them like a disgusted parent, identify himself as “Chris Hansen from ‘Dateline,’ and then reveal to the suspects that they are being filmed, before the suspect would be arrested.

Unfortunately, Osit seems to have unrealistic expectations of what Hansen was supposed to be in these situations. Hansen had the role of being a journalist, not a psychiatrist or other type of therapist—albeit a journalist involved in a very sensationalistic, controversial exposé TV program. It’s also very unlikely that people in these “caught in the act” circumstances will confess their deepest and darkest sex perversions to a total stranger (in this case, Hansen), who’s angrily confronting them about being a possible perpetrator of child sex abuse.

The beginning of the downfall of “To Catch a Predator” (which is brought up fairly early in the “Predators” documentary) happened in 2006, when a botched sting operation resulted in the suicide of Bill Conradt, who was assistant district attorney of Rockwall County, Texas. On November 6, 2006, “To Catch a Predator” camera crews accompanied police to Conradt’s home in Murphy, Texas, when the police were attempting to serve search warrant because Conradt had reportedly been sending sexually explicit messages involving child porn solicitation to a Perverted Justice decoy posing as a 13-year-old boy. Conradt committed suicide by shooting himself after finding out that there were “To Catch a Predator” cameras in his house.

Investigators believe that Conradt had been tipped off in advance that this police raid would be filmed for “To Catch a Predator.” After Conradt died, “To Catch a Predator” did an episode on the case, even though Conradt wasn’t arrested or charged with what police suspected him of doing. John Roach, who was the criminal district attorney for Texas’s Collin County from 2003 to 2010, says in the documentary that he advise “Dateline” not to film this raid, but the producers obviously didn’t take that advice.

The documentary “Predators” includes raw footage of police outside of Conradt’s house during this fateful raid. Hansen can be seen talking to some unidentified law enforcement officials. The footage also shows that Conradt was nowhere to be seen when the officers surrounded the house and announced that they were there.

Hansen admits later in the documentary that he and the other producers of “To Catch a Predator” made the mistake of not sticking to the format that had worked for the show: filming people being arrested at a decoy house, not the suspects’ real homes. Byron Harris, a retired reporter who used to work WFAA-TV in Dallas, is interviewed in “Predators” about the Conradt case and doesn’t add any new information.

Bill Conradt’s estate, managed by his sister Patricia Conradt, later sued NBC and “Dateline” for $105 million. In June 2008, the case was settled out of court with undisclosed terms. The last episode of “To Catch a Predator” aired on “Dateline” on December 28, 2007. Around the same time that the lawsuit was settled, NBC confirmed that “To Catch a Predator” had ended, although the network did not use the word “canceled” to describe the end of the show. Hansen told the media that “To Catch a Predator” had just run its course.

Hansen hosted a spinoff show called “Predator Raw: The Unseen Tapes,” which had a compilation of repeats of “To Catch a Predator” cases, with some previously unreleased footage. “Predator Raw: The Unseen Tapes” lasted for three seasons (from 2007 to 2010) and was televised on MSNBC, which at the time was owned by NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC. Hansen left NBC in 2013, when his contract wasn’t renewed.

Hansen has since gone on to do variations of the “To Catch a Predator” concept (under different titles) on other TV shows or online series. He hosted “Hansen vs. Predator” on the syndicated TV series “Crime Watch Daily” from 2017 to 2018, the year that “Crime Watch Daily” was canceled. Since 2022, Hansen has been hosting “Takedown With Chris Hansen” on TruBlu, a streaming service that he co-founded in 2022 with Shawn Rech, who is seen briefly in the “Predators” documentary. Working with law enforcement in “Takedown With Chris Hansen,” Hansen does the same type of “To Catch a Predator” confrontations with suspected sex predators who are accused of targeting children.

The documentary “Predators” begins with a recorded phone conversation from a “To Catch a Predator” sting, where an unidentified man, who ended up being arrested on the show, talks in a sleazy manner to a decoy, whom he thinks is a girl who’s between the ages of 12 and 14. “Predators” interviews three former decoys who worked on “To Catch a Predator”: Dani Jayden, Casey Mauro and Dan Schrack.

Jayden, who says she worked for the show to get some acting experience, comments on how she sometimes still gets recognized in public for being a “To Catch a Predator” decoy: “Little did I know, it [the “To Catch a Predator” notoriety] was going to live on, probably my whole entire life, until I die.” Jayden adds, “I will probably always, in some universe, be known as ‘the decoy.'”

Jayden says that she took a practical approach to her decoy job, which required her to get involved in a lot of sexually explicit communication with strangers: “I had to look at it as an acting job, but one that really heavily relies on me doing my job correctly. My goal always was ‘Get them to expose themselves. Get Chris Hansen his best interview.'”

When asked why she thinks “To Catch a Predator” was so popular, Jayden replies: “I think it brought awareness to parents. You get sucked in. You’re, like, ‘This [online sexual predators targeting children] is a problem.”

Mauro says she became a decoy on “To Catch a Predator” by chance. Her uncle (whom she does not name) was a realtor helping NBC’s “Dateline” producers with a house (owned by Mauro’s grandmother) that would be used as a place where the suspects would meet the decoy. Mauro’s uncle recommended Mauro for the decoy job because he knew she was an aspiring actress who looked a lot younger than her real age. (Mauro started being a decoy when she was 18.)

Mauro comments on this uncle who recommended her for the decoy job: “He had no idea what he was getting into.” She also said that the disturbing sexual aspects of the show bothered her uncle more than it bothered her. Mauro doesn’t say what her other family members thought about the show, but considering that her family allowed one of their houses to be used as a decoy house in “To Catch a Predator,” this family obviously had some level of acceptance for the show.

By contrast, former decoy Schrack admits he has mixed feelings about his time with “To Catch a Predator” and doesn’t like to think about his time on the show. He says it’s probably because he was the decoy who was communicating with Bill Conradt in the case that led to the fateful search warrant raid. Schrack gets choked up and emotional when he says he still struggles with feelings of guilt that he could have been partially responsible for how Bill Conradt died.

Schrack comments, “You could offer me $10 million to film that episode in Texas again, and I wouldn’t take it. I wouldn’t be happy about that decision.” In the documentary, Osit can be heard assuring Schrack that what happened to Bill Conradt was not Schrack’s fault.

Schrack says he worked as decoy because he wanted to be an actor and “I wanted a paycheck … I don’t think they expected much of me as an actor, but it was nerve-wracking. A lot of it too was ‘Don’t blow your cover. You’ve got a ton of people here who’ve been working hard, for X amount of days.'” Schrack says he was also motivated to do the decoy work because it felt like he was doing good things for society. “It was kind of a cool gang that you were in, making sure that these bad guys don’t hurt any kids.”

Jayden, Mauro and Schrack (who are each interviewed separately) are also seen reacting to watching old footage of themselves on “To Catch a Predator” that they hadn’t watched in several years. Mauro comments on looking back on her decoy work: “I didn’t realize at the time how taxing it was mentally and emotionally.”

Mark de Rond is an ethnographer who gets quite a bit of screen time in “Predators,” even though he’s never been directly involved in shows like “To Catch a Predator.” He explains the appeal of these types of shows: “What first interested me about ‘To Catch a Predator’ was it shows that grown men can be so vile [with] what they assume are kids, and how it is we seem to enjoy watching the same men being humiliated on TV. The goal of the show was to educate people about the Internet, the ‘stranger danger’ folk, but it ended up shocking people.”

Osit is heard telling de Rond why Osit was interested in watching “To Catch a Predator” when he was a child who experienced sexual abuser from a predator: “I’ve been on a lifelong quest to understand how someone could do that. And partly, what drew me to the show when I was young was that first initial question that Chris [Hansen] would ask: ‘Help me understand.'”

Osit continues, “But the show never really answered that question for me. I don’t think it was ever really interested in the answer. So, the more I’ve learned, the more I’ve been disappointed.” Osit also comments on working on the “Predators” documentary: “It’s taught me a lot of empathy. And I’m sorry, the show [‘To Catch a Predator’] tries to crush that.” Meanwhile, de Rond says in agreement: “Understanding is not the goal of the show.”

This is where “Predators” might lose some good will with viewers. Osit talks about “empathy,” but empathy for whom? He puts a lot of emphasis about empathy for suspects being exploited on a TV show, but what about real victims of child sexual abuse? There’s not much empathy for real sexual abuse victims/survivors in this documentary, even though Osit says he’s experienced sexual abuse.

Greg Stumbo, a former Kentucky attorney general, was one of the prosecutors who handled cases of some the people who were arrested on “To Catch a Predator”—and he’s firmly in the camp that believes “To Catch a Predator” was a good public service. Stumbo says of people who were usually arrested on the show: “These people are out there, and they’re dangerous … My job is not to rehabilitate them. My job is to make them responsible for the act they committed … I have absolutely no compassion for them … They’re just dangerous for our children. You don’t understand the problem if you’re critical of [the show].”

A former law enforcement official with a different point of view is Walt Weiss, a former detective for the Murphy Police Department in Texas. Weiss was part of the team that was at Bill Conradt’s house during the search warrant raid that went horribly wrong. Weiss says one of the main problems that can happen with shows like “To Catch a Predator” is when the show’s producers want to control or influence how law enforcement officials do their jobs in these cases.

Weiss makes these scathing comments: “Chris Hansen is not a police officer. He’s not a prosecuting attorney. They’re running a TV show, and it looked more and more like someone was being given carte blanche to come in and direct operations at the police department. They [the “To Catch a Predator” production team] went over there to do something at that [Bill Conradt] house because it would do something for the show, not something for society, not something in the interest of law enforcement. And the role that I played in it, that’s a stain on my soul that I’m going to live with if I’m any kind of human being at all.”

“Predators” has a fairly long segment about online shows that are copycats of “To Catch a Predator.” The documentary does an interview profile on YouTube personality Skeet Hansen, who says Chris Hansen is his idol and the reason why Skeet Hansen started a YouTube channel (called Skeeter Jean) that is modeled after “To Catch a Predator.” Skeet Hansen works with a small crew of people, usually one or two camera operators and a decoy. In the documentary, Skeet Hansen insists his show is legitimate and professional because he and his team coordinate with law enforcement and give evidence to law enforcement about the suspects who are confronted on camera.

One of these confrontations is featured in the “Predators” documentary, which doesn’t show the suspect’s face. The suspect, who is only identified as Eric, is shocked and fearful that what’s being filmed will ruin his life. Skeet Hansen and his associates in the room become alarmed when Eric starts to express suicidal thoughts. Someone in the crew asks Eric to sign a release form to allow his face to be shown in the footage, but he refuses to sign the form. Skeet Hansen calls 911 to report what’s going on, and the police arrive to take Eric away. The “Predators” documentary doesn’t include information on what happened to Eric.

Skeet Hansen says when comparing himself to Chris Hansen: “He’s a journalist. And, for the most part, I’ll be looked at as a YouTuber who does it for clicks and views and all that.” Skeet Hansen admits he’s used an illegal tactic of having people on his show pretend to be police officers when confronting the suspects.

Skeet Hansen defends his right to make money from this type of show: “There’s never been a detective that solved a murder that didn’t get paid for it, so why shouldn’t I be able to monetize off of catching these guys, like the original show, and making this content for people’s entertainment?” It’s quite a stretch when a YouTuber with no law enforcement training compares himself to a professional detective.

A woman identified only as T Coy works with Skeet Hansen as a decoy for his YouTube channel. T Coy says she’s a survivor of sexual abuse, and openly admits she gets a certain amount of satisfaction in seeing suspected predators get arrested because of her work. T Coy comments, “It’s fucking funny when a bad guy gets what’s coming to him.”

As an example of how narrow and a bit hypocritical “Predators” can be when trying to prove a questionable agenda, the documentary repeatedly advocates for trying to understand these suspects better, and yet the documentary doesn’t interview anyone who’s been arrested for these crimes. The closest that the documentary comes is spotlighting a case that makes an arrestee look as sympathetic as possible: A man identified only as Hunter (an alias) was arrested on “Takedown With Chris Hansen” when Hunter was 18 and charged with sending sexually explicit content to a girl who was about 15 or 16.

As a result of the arrest, Hunter dropped out of school, was harassed for being a “sex offender,” fell into a deep depression, and has had problems getting a job. “Predators” interviews Hunter’s mother, whose name is not mentioned in the documentary. She says that Hunter, who lives with her, still struggles with depression. As she’s doing the interview, Hunter can be heard sobbing in another room. Hunter’s mother bitterly says, “I wish Chris [Hansen] could feel 1% of our pain, even though it fixes nothing.”

This might be gut-wrenching to watch for some people, but some viewers might be wondering why the documentary didn’t go into more details about what exactly Hunter said in his communication that was so bad that it got him arrested. Many of the arrested suspects on these shows have sexual communication that is too disgusting and offensive to be repeated verbatim on certain media platforms. “Predators” also leaves out the fact that people arrested on shows like “To Catch a Predator” aren’t arrested because of a few vague messages. A lot of detailed evidence must be presented to law enforcement first before law enforcement will get involved and agree to arrest the suspects in such a public way.

By singling out Hunter as a example of an alleged unfair arrest, “Predators” glosses over the fact that there are many adults over the age of 18 or 19 who’ve been convicted of sex crimes as a result of “To Catch a Predator” and similar shows. Where are those interviews in the documentary? Why did the “Predators” documentary not include examples of arrests that were done right and resulted in convictions?

Osit has said in interviews for “Predators” that he had no interest in putting a spotlight on any of the suspects in this documentary. Fair enough. But many of these suspects became convicted criminals, who probably did the same things to real victims, not decoys. Why aren’t real victims of “To Catch a Predator” convicts interviewed in this documentary?

Those interviews are not in this documentary because “Predators” is more interested in pointing out what’s been obvious for years: Shows like “To Catch a Predator” don’t care if people arrested for these crimes will have their reputations ruined. These shows don’t care to understand why sexual predators exist. Unfortunately, Osit doesn’t seem to understand that it’s not the job of these shows to “fix” or have pity for people who have these deviant problems, especially when many of these predators cannot or will not be rehabilitated. These shows merely point out how suspected predators operate, so that people can be more aware of the problem and take as many safety precautions as possible.

By the time Osit sits down with Chris Hansen for an interview, it seems like Osit wants to get Hansen to make some sort of apology for causing Osit to feel disillusioned about “To Catch a Predator.” Chris Hansen doesn’t take the bait and makes no apologies for his involvement in these types of shows. Chris Hansen rightfully points out that for every person who might have a complaint about these shows, there are many more people who support these shows and want these shows to continue. He says he knows, based on the feedback he gets from the general public.

Chris Hansen gets a bit sanctimonious when he says about “To Catch a Predator” and similar shows that he’s done: “I truly believe that’s the kind of reporting I’m supposed to do … What I do is for a greater purpose.” And yes, it’s also a job for him. The documentary shows Hansen attending events like CrimeCon and a TruBlu launch presentation, as if to “expose” that people make money from crime reporting. Is Chris Hansen supposed to give all his money to charity? Get real.

During his interview with Chris Hansen, Osit brings up Hunter’s case as an example of what Osit thinks was an unfair arrest. Osit doesn’t mention that the overwhelming majority of the cases on Chris Hansen’s shows were about non-teen adults who were arrested for being sexual predators to underage children. Hansen admits that Hunter is a rare case where Hunter being 18 years old (instead of being a much-older adult) at the time of his arrest should’ve been taken more into consideration before Hunter was featured on “Takedown With Chris Hansen.” The “Predators” documentary mentions that Hunter’s case was removed from “Takedown With Chris Hansen” after Hunter agreed to enter a rehabilitation program and agreed not to re-offend.

Chris Hansen also says that there are usually three types of adult predators who are caught in these sting investigations: The first type is someone who would be a sex predator, even if the Internet didn’t exist. These are usually predators who re-offend and are the hardest to rehabilitate. The second type is someone who probably wouldn’t be a sex predator if the Internet didn’t exist. The third type is a teenager who was legally an adult when caught being sexually involved with someone who was an underage teen. Hansen says this third type of suspect is the one most likely to get leniency in the legal system.

Chris Hansen is probably accustomed to getting certain critics blaming him for a problem that’s bigger than any media show. That’s why he gives this very well-thought-out, eloquent answer when Osit tries to make Chris Hansen look like a villain: “I understand your point. And it’s valid. But you don’t know how many times someone has come up to me at a store, at a restaurant, on the street, and said to me: ‘Thank you for what you do. I was victimized by an adult when I was a child, traumatized in a way that has forced me to be in therapy to this day. And every time you confront a predator, it makes me feel better.'”

Chris Hansen adds, “I understand people saying, ‘You push it too far. You take a man at his worst, and you put it on television. You shame him.’ I’m okay with that. And I’ll take that criticism. But for every human being who comes up to tell me their story about being a survivor, this particular investigative franchise is for them. And I’m okay with that. And if that’s my legacy, I’m very comfortable.”

In conclusion, Chris Hansen says about being an investigative journalist who is best known for getting suspected sexual abusers arrested: “I had no idea, getting into this, what it would become, the impact it would have. And it sends a message that we will stand up for the survivor. And that is a big part of what we do in this particular series of investigations.”

The flaws of shows like “To Catch a Predator” are thoroughly dissected and put on display in “Predators.” And the documentary has some very interesting comments from many of the people who are interviewed. But by putting too much emphasis on empathy for the suspects, “Predators” comes dangerously close to losing sight of who should be the most important people in a documentary like this one: the survivors of sexual predators.

MTV Documentary Films released “Predators” in select U.S. cinemas on September 19, 2025.

Review: ‘Billy Idol Should Be Dead,’ starring Billy Idol, Steve Stevens, Perri Lister, Keith Forsey, Jane Broad, Tony James and Brendan Bourke

October 28, 2025

by Carla Hay

“Billy Idol Should Be Dead”

Directed by Jonas Åkerlund

Culture Representation: The documentary film “Billy Idol Should Be Dead” features a predominantly white group of people (with one African American) talking about the life and career of British rock star Billy Idol.

Culture Clash: Billy Idol (whose birth name is William Broad) found fame first with the pop-punk band Generation X and later achieved greater success as a solo artist in the 1980s, but his life was troubled by drug addiction, messy love affairs, a dysfunctional family, and career lows.

Culture Audience: “Billy Idol Should Be Dead” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of Billy Idol, 1980s rock music, and documentaries about celebrities who have longevity in showbiz.

A 1983 photo of Steve Stevens and Billy Idol in “Billy Idol Should Be Dead” (Photo courtesy of Live Nations Productions)

As a documentary, “Billy Idol Should Be Dead” is essentially a cinematic update of Billy Idol’s 2014 memoir, with some added perspectives and a few new revelations. It’s meaningful in some areas and shallow in other areas. Although the movie’s title is attention-grabbing, this title won’t age well when Billy Idol is actually dead. It’s a mostly conventional and solidly made documentary that will be eye-opening only to people who know almost nothing about Idol.

Directed by Jonas Åkerlund, “Billy Idol Should Be Dead” has a title that refers to the many near-death situations that Idol has experienced, including drug overdoses in the 1980s and a 1990 motorcycle accident that caused him to get several broken bones. Idol (whose birth name is William Broad) has candidly talked about a lot of his past misdeeds and his recovery from drug addiction in many interviews over the years (such as his 2001 episode of “Behind the Music”) and in his 2014 memoir “Dancing With Myself.” “Billy Idol Should Be Dead” (which had its world premiere at the 2025 Tribeca Festival) has the same confessions, except it has more people from Idol’s life giving their points of view.

Idol (who was born in Stanmore, England, on November 30, 1955) grew up in a middle-class home. His mother Joan Broad was a homemaker. His father William Broad Sr. was a salesman. Idol has as a sister named Jane Broad, who is interviewed in the documentary. Joan (who died in 2020, at the age of 92) is also interviewed in the documentary, which is an indication of how many years it took to make this film. William Broad Sr. died in 2014, at the age of 90.

In the documentary, Idol describes his father as “a very reserved salesman” who didn’t approve of Idol wanting to be a rock singer. Idol quips, “I’m probably a glorified salesman. The only difference is I make my own product.” Jane Broad has this to say about Idol’s late-teen years: “There was a year or two when my dad didn’t speak to Billy. Billy was going through a phase that my dad didn’t understand.” Idol says much later in the documentary that his father eventually accepted Idol’s career choice after Idol became an affluent rock star, but his father and other family members were very troubled by Idol’s drug addiction.

Joan recalls Idol’s first attempt to look like a rock star was very different from the spiky-haired, bleach-blonde punk that has been his image for decades: “He had John Lennon specs and long hair in those days. He looked terrible.” Idol describes himself as being an average student in school who deliberately didn’t apply himself to reach his full potential because he was interested in things other than school. A famous story about how Idol got his stage surname was that one of his school teachers wrote an evaluation of him that described him as “idle.”

Idol came of age when the punk scene in England was thriving, and he wanted to be part of the action. He says his parents were horrified that he decided to drop out of college to join a punk band. In 1976, after a brief stint as the guitarist for a band named Chelsea, he became the lead singer of Generation X, a band that mixed the attitude of punk with pop-friendly rock songs. Gene October, the former lead singer of Chelsea, is interviewed in the documentary. October is credited with advising Idol to wear contact lenses instead of glasses and to change Idol’s hair color and image into being a sneering blonde punk.

Although some people dismissed Generation X as a pretty-boy punk band because of Idol’s good looks, the group managed to gain popularity because of its live shows. A record deal with Chrysalis Records soon followed. From 1976 to 1981, Idol was a member of Generation X, which released three studio albums when the band existed: 1978’s “Generation X,” 1979’s “Valley of the Dolls” and 1981’s “Kiss Me Deadly,” which was actually Generation X’s fourth recorded album. The band’s third recorded album was shelved and released 17 years after Generation X broke up: the 1998 album “K.M.D. – Sweet Revenge.” The “Generation X” and “Valley of the Dolls” albums were modestly successful in the United Kingdom, but “Kiss Me Deadly” and “K.M.D. – Sweet Revenge” were flops.

The Who guitarist/songwriter Pete Townshend gives an interview in the documentary, where he talks about seeing Generation X perform at the Roxy nightclub in London, early in Generation X’s career. “They were really brash and confident and charismatic,” Townshend remembers. “At the Roxy, there was that sense that people were coming there to learn to be punks.”

Idol says that the British punk rock pioneers the Sex Pistols were huge influences on him and Generation X. The documentary has interviews with former Sex Pistols lead guitarist Steve Jones and former Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook, but their brief interview clips don’t have much information to add. Jones says he remembers when Idol was in a punk band called the Bromley Contingent. Cook says about England’s punk scene in late 1970s: “All these bands came from out of nowhere.” The documentary doesn’t mention that Jones, Cook, Idol, and former Generation X band member Tony James became on an on-again/off-again band called Generation Sex, beginning in 2018.

Generation X is mostly remembered for being the band that originally recorded 1981’s “Dancing With Myself,” a song that Idol co-wrote after seeing a guy in a Tokyo nightclub dancing with his reflection in a mirror. Idol re-recorded and released the song as a Chrysalis Records solo artist on his 1981 EP “Don’t Stop,” and it became one of Idol’s signature hits. “Billy Idol Should Be Dead” is the only documentary to have interviews with Idol and his former Generation X bandmates James (bass) and Derwood Andrews (lead guitar), who are each interviewed separately.

James, who used to be in the band Chelsea with Idol, says that there were two factions in Generation X. Idol and James were Generation X’s chief songwriters, who bonded because they were both from middle-class backgrounds. Lead guitarist Andrews and drummer Mark Laff were from working-class backgrounds and bonded with each other. Because Idol and James were the main songwriters for Generation X, they wielded most of the power in the group. Andrews and Laff left Generation X in 1979 because of creative differences and power struggles in the band.

Idol admits in the documentary: “I hijacked Generation X, really. That last Generation X album is the first Billy Idol solo album, really.” James says there was another reason why the band eventually broke up in 1981: “Heroin made us drift apart.” James says when he first met Idol, Idol didn’t smoke, drink alcohol, or do drugs, but that changed quickly. James comments, “I think he felt a pressure from people to be Billy Idol, to be credible.”

Brendan Bourke, a former Chrysalis Records executive who worked closely with Billy Idol in the 1980s, tells a story in the beginning of the documentary about how he saw two different sides of Idol when he first met Idol in 1981. Bourke remembers picking up Idol at John F. Kennedy Airport after Idol decided to relocate to New York City as a solo artist. Bourke says that Idol was very quiet but became very different when Idol was in his full Billy Idol “rock star” persona. “He wasn’t Billy Idol until he was coked up,” says Bourke. “The alcohol and the drugs fueled that persona.”

Idol went public years ago about his drug problems. He says that although he abused many drugs in his life, heroin was his biggest addiction. It was an addiction he battled for most of the 1980s. He overdosed on heroin multiple times. In the documentary, Idol describes a 1984 overdose where he “turned blue.” He remembers the people who were with him at the time brought him up to the building’s roof to stay conscious and didn’t want to call for medical help because they were afraid it would turn into a public scandal that would ruin Idol’s career.

Idol says that when he started doing heroin, many other people in the music scene were also doing heroin. Idol comments that he and other heroin users he knew didn’t think at the time that heroin was very dangerous, and they were using heroin to get into a different mindset. Idol comments, “You think, ‘Maybe [heroin] will unleash something.'”

Former Generation X band member James says that Idol’s heroin addiction started around the same time that Idol got romantically involved with British dancer/choreographer Perri Lister, who would become the mother of their son Willem Broad, born in 1988. Lister (who appeared in some of Idol’s videos, such as 1982’s “White Wedding” and 1984’s “Eyes Without a Face”) had a tumultuous relationship with Idol from 1980 to 1989. Idol (who has never been married) and Lister were living in Los Angeles at the time of their final breakup.

Lister is interviewed in the documentary but doesn’t admit to any role in Idol’s drug addiction. She describes him as “the love of my life,” but says they both cheated on each other during their on-again/off-again relationship. Lister says that Idol was much more jealous and more controlling than she was, and the breaking point for her was when he continued to date other women after the birth of Willem. She also describes Idol as having two sides to him and says his “demon side” would come out when he was in the midst of drug binges.

Much of “Billy Idol Should Be Dead” covers the typical “height of success” and “debauched excess” stories that are in many celebrity documentaries. As many people already know, Idol became a huge star as a solo artist and had his biggest hits in the 1980s, including “Dancing With Myself,” “Eyes Without a Face,” “Rebel Yell,” “To Be a Lover” and his cover version of “Mony Mony.” Idol’s last big hit album was 1990’s “Charmed Life,” which spawned the hit single “Cradle of Love.” He was one of the artists who became synonymous with the early years of MTV (which launched in 1981), as their mutual popularity was fueled by a lot of media exposure and the music videos that MTV used to have in heavy rotation.

At the time, Idol’s drug addiction was an open secret in the music industry but was kept well-hidden from the general public. His biggest public controversies had to do with a few of his music videos—for example, “Dancing With Myself,” which featured exploding zombies, was at one point considered too violent for MTV—and his reputation for being a promiscuous playboy. Idol freely admits that he was living like a sex addict and makes no apologies for it, but he doesn’t go into explicit details in the documentary.

He’s more forthcoming about his drug addiction and tells a story about relapsing during a trip to Thailand, where he says he caused $75,000 in hotel damages. Idol says he briefly cleaned up his illegal drug use after his 1990 motorcycle accident, but it took him many years after that to get clean and sober from heroin and cocaine. His family members tried to help as much as they could, but Idol says the decision to quit and recover has to start with the person who has the addiction. He says he’s quit hard drugs in 2003, but he still admits to smoking marijuana on a regular basis.

Idol also says he’s at peace with his failed attempts to become a movie star. Because of his motorcycle accident, he lost out on playing the T-1000 villain role in 1991’s “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” (a role that went to Robert Patrick), while Idol’s role as Jim Morrison’s friend Cat in 1991’s “The Doors” movie was drastically reduced from being a significant supporting role to a glorified cameo. Idol talks about parting ways with manager Bill Aucoin (who was Generation X’s manager from 1980 to 1981, and who was Idol’s manager from 1981 to 1986) because Idol blames Aucoin for ruining Idol’s chance to have the starring role in the movie adaptation of author Nik Cohn’s 1975 “King Death” fantasy novel, a story about an assassin who becomes a famous entertainer.

Idol claims that Aucoin was addicted to smoking crack cocaine and took the “King Death” movie away from a major studio, in order to make “King Death” an independent film, but the movie never got made. Idol says, “After that, Bill Aucoin disappeared from my life.” (Aucoin died in 2010, at age 66.) Freddy DeMann became Idol’s next manager, but he didn’t last long as Idol’s manager. DeMann says in the documentary: “I knew Billy had severe drug problems, and that’s probably why I was called in.” No one in Idol’s current management team is interviewed in the documentary.

Idol also briefly comments on his 1993 “Cyberpunk” album being a bomb, by saying that it was an album that was ahead of its time in predicting what would become the Internet’s massive influence on society. Idol changed his hairstyle to short dreadlocks for his 1993 “No Religion” tour to promote the “Cyberpunk” album, but he changed it back to his signature spiky hair after the album flopped, and he’s kept that same hairstyle ever since. Idol didn’t release a new studio album after “Cyperpunk” until 2005’s “Devil’s Playground.” “Billy Idol Should Be Dead” has some occasional comments and clips of Idol’s music released since “Cyberpunk,” but the documentary knows that most of the public’s interest in Billy Idol revolves around his 1980s career peak.

Steve Stevens, Billy Idol’s longtime guitarist who became his best-known songwriting collaborator, is interviewed in the documentary, but there’s not nearly enough of him in the movie. It’s perhaps the movie’s biggest flaw: There’s not enough information in “Billy Idol Should Be Dead” about Idol’s songwriting or how he made his hit albums. Unfortunately, the quotes from Stevens that are used in this documentary are utterly forgettable. Keith Forsey, the music producer who worked with Idol for most of the 1980s, is interviewed, but he doesn’t have much information that’s new or insightful.

The documentary’s updated information includes Idol discovering in 2023 that he has a son named Brant Broad, who was born from a brief fling that Idol had with a fan in the mid-1980s. Idol’s daughter Bonnie Blue Broad, whom Idol fathered with another fan during Idol’s 1984 “Rebel Yell” tour, discovered Brant through a DNA test. The end of the documentary shows Idol with all three of his children and being a doting grandfather to the children of Brant and Bonnie.

Celebrities who are interviewed in the documentary mostly give gushing comments about how Idol was an influence to them. These famous fans include Miley Cyrus, Green Day lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong, Duran Duran bass player John Taylor, Guns N’Roses bass player Duff McKagan, and Fall Out Boy lead singer Patrick Stump. Cyrus says, “I watched Billy Idol like I watched porn. There’s no one hotter or who radiates more sexuality than Billy Fucking Idol.”

Grammy-winning producer Nile Rodgers tells a funny story about how he and Idol were hanging out a nightclub in New York City sometime in 1982, and they saw David Bowie sitting at a table by himself. Idol was eager to meet Bowie and introduced himself and Rodgers to Bowie. Just as he was shaking Bowie’s hand, Idol vomited, and then acted like the vomit was no big deal. Rodgers said that’s when he knew that Idol was one of the “coolest” people he ever met. Rodgers says this meeting led to Rodgers working with Bowie on Bowie’s 1983 smash album “Let’s Dance.”

Other people interviewed in the documentary include former MTV executive John Sykes, “Dancing With Myself” music video director David Mallet, Billy Idol friend/producer John Diaz and Billy Idol friend/personal assistant Art Natoli. The documentary has some anime-styled interludes instead of actors doing re-enactments of the stories told in the movie. “Billy Idol Should Be Dead” is competently made and is a very good introduction for people who are unfamiliar with Idol. Longtime fans will also like some of the interviews. However, it’s not an entirely comprehensive documentary since it tends to let Idol’s “bad boy” stories overshadow further insights into how he created music in his heyday.

Fremantle Media and Live Nation Productions released “Billy Idol Should Be Dead” in select U.S. cinemas on October 24, 2025.

Review: ‘Cracking the Code: Phil Sharp and the Biotech Revolution,’ starring Phil Sharp, Rachel Meyers, Al Sandrock, Ann Sharp, Akshay Vaishnaw, Bob Langer, Noubar Afeyan, and Clint Gartin

October 29, 2025

by Carla Hay

“Cracking the Code: Phil Sharp and the Biotech Revolution”

Directed by Bill Haney

Culture Representation: The documentary film “Cracking the Code: Phil Sharp and the Biotech Revolution” features a predominantly white group of people (with one African American and a few Asians) talking about the biotech industry and Nobel Prize-winning biotech scientist Phil Sharp.

Culture Clash: Defying skeptics and critics, Sharp was one of the pioneering advocates of biotech science, which led to scientific breakthroughs, such as the COVID-19 vaccine.

Culture Audience: “Cracking the Code: Phil Sharp and the Biotech Revolution” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in biotech science and information about how research related to DNA and RNA, but this documentary is unfocused and sidelines the story of Sharp for most of the movie.

Phil Sharp in “Cracking the Code: Phil Sharp and the Biotech Revolution” (Photo courtesy of Uncommon Productions)

“Cracking the Code: Phil Sharp and the Biotech Revolution” could have been more fascinating, but it’s presented like a drab academic report. This dull and erratic documentary starts as a biography of scientist Phil Sharp (who’s barely interviewed in the movie), then turns into a lecture on the risks of biotech firm investments, and then it becomes an infomercial for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine. Many of the quotes used in the interview are generic and bland.

Directed by Bill Haney and narrated by actor Mark Ruffalo, “Cracking the Code: Phil Sharp and the Biotech Revolution” seems to intend to show how Sharp was at the forefront of biotechnology (he co-discovered RNA splicing) and how he was among a group of scientists who helped pioneer DNA and RNA research. Biotechnology advocates believe that technology can be used to re-engineer genetics/biology to prevent or treat diseases, as a better alternative to medication. Advocates don’t think that medication should be completely replaced, but they believe biotech-based medical care, in many cases, can be more effective than medication that has side effects.

“Cracking the Code: Phil Sharp and the Biotech Revolution” (which clocks in at 84 minutes) spends the first third of the movie giving a basic personal history of Sharp. He is interviewed for the movie, but the documentary’s total screen time for this interview is only about 15 minutes. Sharp—who was born as Phillip Allen Sharp in Falmouth, Kentucky, on June 6, 1944—talks about how his parents lost their retail store business during the Great Depression, so the family went into the farm business and had to move to a farmhouse with a dirt floor and no indoor running water.

Sharp says his mother taught him to be optimistic and encouraged him to be the best person he could be. When his mother was a teenager, her parents didn’t allow to continue her education past eighth grade so she could help take care of her younger siblings. Sharp mentions that his mother had a lot of resentment of being deprived of at least a high-school education, so she made education a top priority for Sharp, who admits that he, not his sisters, was encouraged by his parents to get a college education. The documentary has footage of Sharp having a happy reunion with his former elementary schoolteacher Carlena Caldwell on the front porch of her house, but this footage is so brief (about two minutes), it didn’t really need to be in the documentary at all.

Several people in the documentary mention one of Sharp’s personal attributes is his tenacity when experiencing obstacles. He has dyslexia but became one of the top scientists in his field. Sharp says that he learned the importance of perseverance when he was a child. As an example, he mentions that when he was in high school, he was rejected to be on the basketball team. He kept trying out until he made it on the team and became a valued player.

The documentary then breezes through descriptions of Sharp becoming a husband and father. His university education gets the expected mention: In 1966, he graduated from Union Commonwealth University with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and mathematics. He completed his Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1969. Sharp then did his postdoctoral training at the California Institute of Technology until 1971.

After that, he studied genetics at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory as a senior scientist. In 1974, he joined MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), where he was director of MIT’s Center for Cancer Research (now known as the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research) from 1985 to 1991. He was head of MIT’s biology department from 1991 to 1999. In 1999, he became an Institute Professor, which is the highest-rank for a professor at MIT. Sharp won the 1993 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for his RNA splicing breakthroughs. The documentary doesn’t mention the fact that biochemist/molecular biologist Richard J. Roberts shared the same prize in 1993.

Former colleagues of Sharp make expected compliments about him in the documentary. A lot of it is effusive praise. Susan Hockfield, a neurologist and former president of MIT, comments about Sharp: “A central requirement of being a genius is being off-center, off-kilter and not minding. He is undaunted and apologetic.” Rachel Meyers—a former Ph.D. student at MIT’s Phil Sharp’s Lab and a former senior vice president of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals—remembers that Sharp was very competitive with rival universities’ research teams and would often take a basketball team approach to these rivalries.

“Cracking the Code: Phil Sharp and the Biotech Revolution” is the type of documentary where the person who is in the title of the documentary somehow gets lost or sidelinedduring much of the documentary’s narrative. The middle of the movie then becomes a litany of trials and tribulations that people other than Sharp had at biotech firms in the 1990s, when DNA research was starting to grow. The documentary goes off in a disjointed tangent that looks like something you would see in a report on CNBC or Bloomberg News.

For example, the documentary goes into detail about the rise and fall of Alnylam’s fortunes. There’s a lot of talk about biotech firms, such as Biogen, that had successful IPOs, and how there are more biotech firms now than ever before. There’s also commentary from executives in the financial sector, such as Morgan Stanley investment banking chairman Clint Gartin and Morgan Stanley managing director/chair of biotechnology investment banking Jessica Chutter.

The last third of the “Cracking the Code: Phil Sharp and the Biotech Revolution” talks about how the type of research that Sharp and other scientists eventually paved the way for Moderna to be the first company to bring a COVID-19 vaccine to market. The documentary than has a series of interviews with Moderna people praising themselves for this breakthrough. These interviewees include Bob Langer, Moderna co-founder and MIT professor; Noubar Afeyan, Moderna co-founder and Flagship Pioneering founder; former Moderna scientific director Melissa Moore, who is also a former student of Sharp.

The documentary has some animation graphics to give simple explanations of some of the scientific jargon. Ruffalo’s narration is adequate, but it lacks genuine enthusiasm. The narration sounds exactly like someone reading from a very clinical set of notes. “Cracking the Code: Phil Sharp and the Biotech Revolution” needed more human stories about this biotech revolution (such as medical patients who’ve been affected) instead of a bunch of scientists and business investment executives patting themselves on the back.

“Cracking the Code: Phil Sharp and the Biotech Revolution” has a lot of archival footage of Sharp doing other interviews or being featured on news programs. But the interview that he did for this documentary is disappointingly scant, and he mostly talks about his youth and the early years of his career. Toward the end of the documentary, he shows up briefly with a few more comments, such as: “I think Alzheimer’s [disease] and Parkinson’s [disease] will be treated with RNA A.I. [artificial intelligence].” That’s probably the only forward-thinking statement he makes in the documentary, which has Sharp mostly being nostalgic about things that happened decades ago.

Other people interviewed in the documentary are David Baltimore, biologist and 1975 Nobel laureate; Bob Buderi, journalist and former editor-in-chief of MIT’s Technology Review; John Carroll, editor/co-founder of Endpoints News; Wally Gilbert, biochemist, physicist and 1980 Nobel laureate; Susan Hockfield, MIT president emeritus; Walter Isaacson, journalist/biographer; Tyler Jacks, founding director of the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research; Travis McCready, former president/CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center; Claire Moore, Tufts professor/former student of Phil Sharp; Antonio Regalado, biomedicine editor at MIT Technology Review; Al Sandrock, former Biogen head of research development.

In the biographical part of the documentary, Sharp’s personal life as a married man is described in the gentlest of terms. Phil and his wife Ann Sharp (who is also interviewed in the documentary) were college sweethearts and got married when they were both 20 years old. Ann says that it was stressful in the early years of his career when they were financially struggling and had to move around a lot, but she now describes it as an “adventure” that she doesn’t regret. His sister Joanna Layton is also interviewed in the documentary and gets teary-eyed and emotional when she describes Phil being awarded the Nobel Prize.

“Cracking the Code: Phil Sharp and the Biotech Revolution” isn’t a terrible documentary, but it strangely puts Sharp at a distance for more than half of the movie. The documentary needed a better and tighter focus and a more engaging presentation. It seems like the filmmakers couldn’t decide if this documentary should be a biography about Phil Sharp or a history of biotech research, and they tried to do combination of both in one documentary. Unfortunately, the results are muddled and dreadfully boring, which does a disservice to what should have been a compelling subject.

PBS’s “Independent Lens” premiered “Cracking the Code: Phil Sharp and the Biotech Revolution” on October 6, 2025, the same day that PBS made the documentary available on PBS online platforms.

Review: ‘The Perfect Neighbor’ (2025), a riveting documentary about the killing of Florida mother Ajike Owens

October 18, 2025

by Carla Hay

A scene from “The Perfect Neighbor” of kids holding up a photo of Ajike Owens. Her eldest child Isaac is pictured second from left. (Photo courtesy of Netflix)

“The Perfect Neighbor” (2025)

Directed by Geeta Gandbhir

Culture Representation: The documentary film “The Perfect Neighbor” features a group of white and African Americans in archival footage from 2022 to 2024, in the case of Ajike Owens, a 35-year-old mother of four, who was killed by a neighbor in Ocala, Florida, on June 2, 2023.

Culture Clash: Owens was shot to death by Susan Lorincz, who was 58 years old at the time, after several months of an escalating feud between Lorincz and her neighbors, who accused each other of harassment.

Culture Audience: “The Perfect Neighbor” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in documentaries about racist crimes and neighbor disputes that turn deadly.

Susan Lorincz (seated) in “The Perfect Neighbor” (Photo courtesy of Netflix)

The all-archival documentary “The Perfect Neighbor” uses mostly police camera footage to tell the harrowing story of how lies from a hateful bigot can escalate into the killing of a defenseless person. There are no follow-up interviews with anyone involved in the case. This well-edited documentary is presented as a series of incidents, police interviews and events that were recorded on video from 2022 to 2024.

Directed by Geeta Ganbhir, “The Perfect Neighbor” had its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Directing Award: U.S. Documentary. “The Perfect Neighbor” had its New York premiere at the 2025 New York Film Festival. The movie’s footage (which is shown in chronological order) was primarily filmed in Ocala, Florida, where the killing of 35-year-old Ajike “A.J.” Owens took place on June 2, 2023. Owens, who was unarmed, was shot to death on the front doorstep of the rented house of her neighbor Susan Lorincz, who was 58 years old at the time and living by herself. Owens was a single mother of four children.

Lorincz admitted to shooting Owens through Lorincz’s locked door. Lorincz claimed she was acting in self-defense because Owens was pounding on the front door and threatening Lorincz. About two minutes before Lorincz shot Owens, Lorincz called 911 to report this alleged threat. Florida’s “stand your ground” laws say that a person can claim self-defense in a killing if the killer reasonably felt that their life was threatened by the person or persons who were killed, in the moments before the killing.

Almost everyone in the documentary’s footage is not identified by their names, except for Lorincz, Owens, Owens’ mother Pamela Dias, and Owens’ two eldest children: sons Isaac and Israel, who were both interviewed by police immediately after the shooting. Isaac says that he saw his mother getting shot. The most heartbreaking part of the documentary is the footage showing Ajike Owens’ loved ones, especially her children, being told that she died.

“The Perfect Neighbor” director Ganbhir has said in interviews that Ajike Owens’ family gave permission to include all of the footage that is in this documentary. Ganbhir says she got involved in making this documentary because Ajike Owens was the best friend of Ganbhir’s sister-in-law. A portion of the documentary’s revenue is reportedly going to financially help Ajike Owens’ children.

The documentary shows that Lorincz was in a police interrogation room (but not yet under arrest) when she found out that Ajike Owens died. Lorincz’s reaction shows signs of her being a malignant narcissist because she’s more concerned about herself rather than feeling remorse that she killed another human being. Lorincz’s attitude throughout the questioning is saying versions of this “blame the victim” excuse: “I no choice but to shoot her because she was pounding on the door, and I was scared.”

Police body cam footage in the documentary shows that for more than a year leading up to this shooting, Lorincz called police several times to complain about neighborhood kids and their parents, whom she claimed were harassing her by making too much noise or leaving garbage near her house. In February 2022, she claimed that Ajike Owens threw Lorincz’s small “No Trespassing” sign at Lorincz. In a interview with police who were called to the scene, Ajike admitted that she tossed the sign behind her, but she said she wasn’t specifically aiming at Lorincz.

In April 2023, Lorincz called police for a complaint saying one of the neighborhood boys tried to put a dog in the back for her truck. By May 2023, police received the first report that Lorincz was showing people she had a gun, and she told people she wouldn’t hesitate to use the gun. She often demanded that police arrest certain kids or their parents whom she accused of harassing her. However, no arrests were ever made from her complaints because Lorincz could never provide any proof, and witnesses interviewed said that Lorincz was lying.

The people she accused told a very different story from what Lorincz was claiming in her accusations. They said Lorincz was the harasser, who would curse and yell at kids for playing in nearby streets or in a grassy vacant lot that she didn’t own. By her own admission, Lorincz (who is white) would also hurl hate speech slurs meant to insult black people and mentally disabled people when she would have disputes with her neighbors. Most of the people she complained about are African American.

On the night that Ajike Owens was killed, Owens had gone over to Lorincz’s house to retrieve a computer tablet that her second-eldest son Israel had accidentally left outside near Lorincz’s house. Ajike Owens believed that Lorincz had taken the tablet out of spite. According to Israel, Lorincz threw the tablet and rollerskates at him but the objects did not hit him.

When Israel’s older brother Isaac went to confront Lorincz about her violent act of throwing items that could cause injuries, Lorincz angrily told Isaac to get his mother to come over to talk to Lorincz. Witnesses said that when Ajike Owens went over to Lorincz’s house, Ajike Owens was shouting at Lorincz through the Lorincz’s closed front door, but Ajike Owens wasn’t shouting any threats to harm Lorincz. Ajike Owens did not have any weapons when she went over to Lorincz’s house.

The documentary also includes police body cam footage of Lorincz being arrested—in an unrelated incident in March 2023—for ramming her truck against a wire fence and damaging the fence because the fence was locked, instead of contacting the owner to unlock the fence. An eyewitness had come forward and had identified Lorincz as the person who damaged the fence. In the police body cam footage of cops interviewing Lorincz about the incident, Lorincz initially lies about being outside during the time of the property damage.

But when she’s told that a witness identified her as the person causing the fence damage with her truck, Lorincz admits she caused the damage. When Lorincz starts to understand that she might be under arrest, she tries to make the excuse that she had a panic attack when she damaged the fence because she had been beaten and raped in the past. When a cop reads her Miranda rights (including the right to remain silent), Lorincz says she doesn’t want to talk to the arresting cops anymore, but then she contradicts that statement by continuing to talk.

When one of the cops mentions to Lorincz that the owner of the fence wants someone to pay for the damage, Lorincz tries to talk her way out of getting arrested by saying she’d like to resolve the situation privately with the owner. Unfortunately, “The Perfect Neighbor” does not mention what was the result of this arrest. The only reason to put this footage in the documentary was to show that Lorincz had been arrested before for committing violence, as well to show how she acts when she’s about to be arrested for a crime that she admitted doing.

There is no other background information on the victims or the killer in the documentary. What is clear from the footage of this escalating feud, Lorincz’s arrest for the killing, and her subsequent trial: She often tried to look like a helpless victim, but her actions show that she is someone who committed a cold-blooded crime and didn’t have much remorse about it.

The footage shows that as she was about to be arrested for manslaughter in a police interrogation room, Lorincz refused to stand up from the chair where she was sitting when the three cops in the room asked her to stand up so she could be arrested. The cops also didn’t touch her during her refusals, and they gave her plenty of time to decide when she wanted to stand up and be taken to the arrest booking area. Lorincz also tried to talk her way out of the arrest by saying that she didn’t feel well. In other words, the documentary shows that, unlike many other crime suspects, Lorincz was always treated politely by the police.

Lorincz was arrested four days after killing Ajike Owens. The movie also shows some of the controversy about why it took this long for Lorincz to be arrested. Family members, friends and other supporters of Ajike Owens were very open in declaring that there was a racial disparity in how cordially Lorincz was treated during the investigation, compared to people of color who are suspected of manslaughter. After Lorincz killed Ajike Owens and before Lorincz was arrested for manslaughter, Lorincz was given police escorts to and from where she wanted to go because she claimed she needed safety protection.

Because this is a high-profile crime case, the outcome of Lorincz’s trial is well-known: She was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 25 years in prison. This impactful documentary serves as an example of how people should not take false accusations lightly from anyone who has a toxic and dangerous agenda. It also shows how important it is to seek justice when a perpetrator pretends to be a victim.

Netflix released “The Perfect Neighbor” in select U.S. cinemas on October 10, 2025. The movie premiered on Netflix on October 17, 2025.

2025 DOC NYC: What to expect at this year’s event

October 16, 2025

by Carla Hay

Celebrating its 16th edition in 2025, the annual DOC NYC, which is headquartered in New York City, is one of the world’s leading documentary festivals, with a slate of more than 200 films (of which more than 100 are feature-length films) from a diverse array of topics. In 2025, DOC NYC takes place from November 12 to November 30, and continues the festival’s tradition of offering an outstanding variety of feature films and short films, with several of the movies focusing on under-represented people and marginalized communities. In-person screenings will take place at IFC Center, SVA Theatre and Village East by Angelika from November 12 to November 20. All of the festival’s movies will be available to view online to the general public from November 13 to November 30. Tickets are available on the official DOC NYC website.

For the sixth year in a row, DOC NYC is having competitions for U.S. documentaries, international documentaries and short films, among other categories. All competitive awards are voted for by appointed juries, except for the Audience Award.

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (center) in “Apocalypse in the Tropics” (Photo by Francisco Proner/Netflix)

DOC NYC’s annual Short List spotlights movies (features and shorts) that are considered top contenders to get Oscar nominations. This year, the Short List for features are “Apocalypse in the Tropics,” “Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk,” “Predators,” “The Perfect Neighbor,” “Cutting Through Rocks,” “2000 Meters to Andriivka,” “Come See Me in the Good Light,” “Mistress Dispeller,” “The Tale of Silyan,” “Mr. Noboy Against Putin,” “Orwell: 2+2=5,” “Co-Existence, My Ass!,” “Cover-Up,” “My Mom Jayne” and “Heightened Scrutiny.” The Short List: Features jury gives awards in the categories of Director, Producer, Editor and Cinematographer. The Short List: Shorts jury gives a Director Award.

For the sixth year in a row, the festival is presenting DOC NYC’s Winner’s Circle collection, which spotlights movies that have won awards at other film festivals, but might be underrated or overlooked for Oscar nominations. Winner’s Circle documentaries this year are “Secret Mall Apartment,” “The Librarians,” “Seeds,” “Holding Liat,” “Below the Clouds” and “Life After.”

DOC NYC, which was co-founded by Thom Powers and Raphaela Neihausen, also has special events in addition to screenings. Even though most of the movies at DOC NYC have had their world premieres elsewhere, DOC NYC has several world premieres of its own. A complete program can be found here.

DOC NYC 2025 WORLD PREMIERE FEATURE FILMS

All descriptions are courtesy of DOC NYC.

“The A-List: 15 Stories From the Asian and Pacific Diasporas”
Directed by Eugene Yi

Sandra Oh, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, Kumail Nanjiani, Amanda Nguyen, Connie Chung, and beyond: their worlds may be disparate, but they’ve all, in their unique ways, navigated what it means to be Asian in relation to their American identities. While their success has been fraught with racism, they share their stories of losses and wins—to record and bear witness to the struggles, but also to inspire those who come after them.

“Artists in Residence”
Directed by Katie Jacobs

Purchasing a house together in 1950s NYC, three female artists defied societal norms and prioritized their art over traditional roles as wives and mothers. Through interviews with the women, now in their 70s and 80s, as well as their grown children, the film explores the emotional complexities of being an artist and a parent. A heartfelt celebration of independence, creativity, and the enduring strength of women artists.

“Benita”
Directed by Alan Berliner

NYC experimental documentary filmmaker Benita Raphan died by suicide during the loneliness of the COVID-19 shutdowns. DOC NYC 2024 Lifetime Achievement filmmaker Alan Berliner, who was her friend and creative advisor, creates a kind of posthumous collaboration with Benita on her final project, using as many of her images, sounds, and words as possible. BENITA is a deep dive into the many complexities of artists’ lives, from the whimsical to core existential questions, and lessons we can learn about the intersection of mental health and creativity.

“Beyond”
Directed by Asia Johnson and Michael Kleiman

The men behind the prison walls of Sing Sing Correctional Facility find a much-needed outlet in Beyond the Block, a TED-style public speaking symposium. Conceived and developed by an incarcerated planning committee, the event allows participants to explore their humanity in otherwise adverse circumstances. Beyond follows the presenters, from auditions to triumphant moments on stage, as they express their truths in front of an audience of policy-makers, prison officials, and loved ones.

“The Big Cheese”
Directed by Sara Joe Wolansky

In the high-pressure world of international cheesemongering, Adam Moskowitz aims to send the first American to claim the top prize at the Mondial du Fromage competition in France. While the European model for this “sommelier of cheese” profession eclipses its stateside counterpart in societal support, Moskowitz—and his alter-ego, Mr. Moo—believe scrappy American ingenuity can take the wheel. Sara Joe Wolansky’s supremely witty and entertaining directorial debut is an instant artisanal classic.

“The Foul-Mouthed Granny”
Directed by Seung-pyo Hong

An ode to the enduring love and raw humor between a sharp-tongued, famous Korean cook and her devoted youngest son. Told from his autobiographical perspective, the film moves fluidly across time, weaving memories, caregiving rituals, funeral rites, and art into a lyrical meditation on grief. With tenderness and wit, it reveals how loss transforms into creativity and how intergenerational bonds persist beyond death.

“A Free Daughter of Free Kyrgyzstan”
Directed by Leigh Iacobucci

Zere Asylbek was 19 when she released a music video demanding respect for women in the largely conservative Kyrgyzstan. It was intentionally provocative, and Asylbek achieved what she set out to do: jolting the society into paying attention to the evils of the country’s deeply patriarchal and misogynist culture. Six years on, the death threats keep coming as Asylbek’s ever-steely resolve to usher in change only grows stronger.

“Fugs Film!”
Directed by Chuck Smith

DOC NYC alumnus Chuck Smith revels in 1960s sounds and the spirit of counterculture with this politically pointed look back at the volatile energy of protest and creation behind the avant-garde NYC band The Fugs (say it out loud!). Even as band members Ed Sanders, Ken Weaver, and Tuli Kupferberg found that fighting the good fight eventually proved unsustainable, today they are—along with present-day commentators like Penny Arcade, Jeffrey Lewis, Lenny Kaye, and Aline and R. Crumb—just as individualistic and feisty.

“The Garden of Maria”
Directed by Jade Rainho

On the margins of Latin America’s largest city, Guarani Mbya elder Maria reclaims a devastated landscape and turns it into a flourishing garden. Through reforestation, medicinal rituals, and fierce advocacy for land rights, she becomes both a guardian of the Atlantic Forest and a vessel of her community’s wisdom. With lyrical intimacy, the film immerses us in Maria’s world, where resistance, ecology, and spirituality offer a blueprint for survival and renewal.

“Happy and You Know It”
Directed by Penny Lane

Filmmaker Penny Lane brings her inimitably quirky outlook to the art and business of children’s music, an industry generally skipped over by those above the age of 10. Way beyond the grating basicness of “Baby Shark,” Lane profiles performers invested in creating the tastes of kids—artists wanting to shape what children will understand to care about. Among the standouts is former grunge rocker Chris Ballew, who notes amusingly that kids are like the “greatest drunk people ever” for their wild abandon at his concerts.

“If These Walls Could Rock”
Directed by Tyler Measom and Craig A. Williams

The Sunset Marquis is the legendary go-to for rock ’n’ roll royalty to cool their heels in Los Angeles, especially in the sex, drugs, and bad behavior heyday of the 1970s and ’80s. Pure gold is mined out of recollections from Ringo Starr, Slash, Cyndi Lauper, Sharon Osbourne, Sheryl Crow, Dave Grohl, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Bob Thornton, and many more. Simmering beneath the surface lies a familial drama between founder George Rosenthal and son Mark, each with differing visions of the iconic cultural landmark.

“Kings of Venice”
Directed by Sveinn Ingimundarson and S.D. Saltarelli

With the rise of pickleball as the trendiest sport on the block, committed members of Venice Beach’s long-standing paddle tennis community fight to maintain their status. When the pickleballers threaten to push them off the beach, Scott Freedman, the self-proclaimed Paddle Tennis GOAT, makes a gambit to save the game he loves by hosting a tournament with an enticing grand prize.

“The Merchants of Joy”
Directed by Celia Aniskovich

For the five families that control NYC’s Christmas tree trade, the most wonderful time of the year starts months before the first fir tree displays hit busy sidewalks in the five boroughs. There is the competition for sources and locations—not to mention strategizing to stretch the proceeds of five scant weeks into a living for the rest of the year. Celia Aniskovich’s delightful peek behind the curtain of a holiday tradition captures a truly singular cast of characters, among them NYC’s seasonal stand workers, who add extra spice to every sale.

“The Nutcracker at Wethersfield”
Directed by Anne Sundberg

When COVID-19 quarantine restrictions force the 2020 cancellation of Lincoln Center’s annual holiday production of The Nutcracker for the first time since 1964, a group of unemployed New York City Ballet dancers find an unexpected haven at a fairy-tale estate in the Hudson Valley. With an original staging for a masked and largely outdoor audience, the dancers channel the spirit of the classic score into a beacon of wonder during a dark time. In documenting, DOC NYC alumna Anne Sundberg grasps the vital core of the production: how to find hope to persevere, then and now.

“The Pink Pill: Sex, Drugs & Who Has Control”
Directed by Marialuisa Ernst

Following advocates pushing for FDA approval of a pill demonstrated to boost female desire, this engaging documentary explores stark inequalities regarding women’s sexual health. The film exposes how medical education and healthcare institutions systematically ignore women’s sexual needs while normalizing dozens of drugs for male erectile dysfunction. Witty, urgent, and illuminating, The Pink Pill interrogates the double standards in science, medicine, and society that shape how female desire is understood and often misunderstood.

“A Place of Absence”
Directed by Marialuisa Ernst

Shedding light on the familial burden of the migrant crisis, A Place of Absence charts the physical and emotional journey of Central American mothers on a bus caravan as they desperately search for their disappeared children, clinging to hope against overwhelming odds. Interwoven with the filmmaker’s story of her beloved uncle’s disappearance, this film offers a poignant look at migration, loss, and the enduring bonds of family.

“Plan C for Civilization”
Directed by Ben Kalina

Physicist David Keith, a leading and controversial figure in solar geoengineering, seeks to test his planetary-cooling technology after decades of research and theorization. His journey unfolds amid fierce debates over the ethical, political, and environmental implications of reflecting sunlight to slow global warming. Activists warn that the technology could delay fossil fuel reductions or be misused geopolitically. The documentary offers a gripping, real-time look at science shaped by public discourse, ethics, and institutional power.

“Reggae Girlz”
Directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Trish Dalton

As the clock counts down to the 2023 Women’s World Cup, the Reggae Girlz, the Jamaican soccer team, face uphill battles for recognition, respect, and resources. Suffering from financial struggles and institutional neglect, the team boldly confronts the soccer federation, finding surprising allies at home and abroad. With stunning Jamaican landscapes and a vibrant reggae soundtrack, this uplifting underdog story is a joyful celebration of perseverance, pride, and the power of women in sport.

“SantaCon”
Directed by Seth Porges

The sight of rogue Santas gallivanting through the streets has become an NYC winter staple. While the revelry can feel like just a drunken lark, the origins of the festivities lie in something far more absurd. Born in the Bay Area from the same minds as Burning Man, Santacon grew from zany capitalist commentary to a seasonal sensation. Featuring interviews with its creators, these Santa shenanigans give an irreverent twist to the Christmas season.

“Saving Etting Street”
Directed by Dena Fisher and Amy Scott

Shelley, a brash, no-nonsense carpenter, is on a mission to empower Black women to reclaim their futures, one home at a time. Through her innovative program, participants learn construction skills and financial literacy to renovate and purchase abandoned row houses in Baltimore. As dilapidated quarters become dream homes, the women’s personal journeys and stories of determination and community offer a powerful blueprint for breaking cycles of poverty and revitalizing neighborhoods from within.

“Siren: The Voices of Shelley Beattie”
Directed by Irene Taylor

Bodybuilder. Athlete. Gladiator. Shelley Beattie was a proud deaf woman and a graceful powerhouse whose impressive physique often obscured her human struggles. Reaching the height of her fame on American Gladiators as Siren, Beattie’s professional success masked her mental health battles from her family, friends, and partners. Director Irene Taylor joins forces with Hollywood veteran Marlee Matlin to guide the viewer through an exploration of Beattie’s life in this touching biography.

“Sons of Detroit”
Directed by Jeremy Xido

Detroit has often been framed in a negative light, saddled with proclamations of crime and urban decay, but that isn’t the city that filmmaker Jeremy Xido calls home. After his family moved to the city during his youth, an African American family “adopted” Xido and his parents as part of their clan. In this emotionally rich personal tale, Xido reconnects with an estranged “cousin” as he reckons with the social forces that pulled them apart

“Thoughts and Prayers”
Directed by Zackary Canepari and Jessica Dimmock

In today’s America, children are taught how to prepare for school shootings through elaborate drills. As children continue to be gunned down in the country, this smart and heartbreaking film takes an acerbic and caustic tone, perhaps aptly fitting the mood of civilians disgusted with politicians who do nothing to change the country’s gun laws.

“A Thousand Colors”
Directed by Nadia Louis-Desmarchais

Filmmaker Nadia Louis-Desmarchais tries to untangle the complex knot of race and identity that lies at the center of her life. As the daughter of a Haitian mother, adopted by a white family in Quebec, she uses her camera to illustrate an identity that is as intricate and beautiful as she is. Within a world that divides people into Black and white, Louis-Desmarchais discovers a spectrum to which she can belong.

“Traces of Home”
Directed by Colette Ghunim

Delving into the past and not shying away from the dug-up pain, a young filmmaker speaks to her Mexican mother and Palestinian father about their trying journeys into the United States. In a society with rhetoric increasingly vilifying Mexicans and Palestinians, the filmmaker picks up her camera in a bid to address the grief at the center of the generational trauma that has underscored her relationship with her family. A meditation of loss and grief relieved, ultimately, through reconciliation.

“The Trial of Alec Baldwin”
Directed by Rory Kennedy

A provocative examination of celebrity haters, public vitriol, and the toxic price of fame. DOC NYC alumna Rory Kennedy depicts how the tragic accidental death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust in 2021 hatched a distressing cottage industry of career-furthering paparazzi and prosecutors maneuvering for payoffs and power. Talented and adored, yet also flawed and prone to explosions of anger, NYC-based Hollywood star Alec Baldwin becomes a lightning rod of envy and online hate as he fights to protect himself and his family from our culture’s revolting empathy gaps. Rory Kennedy’s sober assessment never lets you forget the Hutchins family’s tragedy while walking us through a riveting final act detailing the shocking revelations of Baldwin’s trial in New Mexico.

“The Voyage Out”
Directed by Barlow Jacobs

Guided by professional hunter Marc Warnke and survival expert Callie Russell, struggling tech entrepreneur Mansal Denton sets out on an eight-day remote wilderness expedition in search of elk, along with answers to some of life’s biggest questions. Shot on gorgeous 16mm, this introspective film follows our complex trio as the trials of the journey surface their foremost wounds, forcing them to grapple with the profound mysteries of mortality.

“Wayumi”
Directed by Andrew Balcof

A moving story of a son reconnecting with his Indigenous mother, who left him as a child to return to her tribe in the Amazon. As an adult, he seeks to rebuild their bond across distance, culture, language, and time. The story revolves around several hurdles they encounter, many of which are bureaucratic, trying to get her to the US. The heart of the film, though, lies in the tender relationship between mother and son.

“We Met at Grossinger’s”
Directed by Paula Eiselt

We Met at Grossinger’s is a dazzling excavation of cultural memory and mythology. Throughout decades of prejudice stifling the integration of Jewish immigrants in America, the Borscht Belt in the Catskills provided an oasis of belonging, and Grossinger’s Resort and Hotel was the crown jewel. The real-life inspiration for the setting of the 1987 classic film Dirty Dancing, Grossinger’s provided both a physical and mental getaway where Jews—and others from marginalized communities—needing a break from NYC could relax. The resort’s growing reputation attracted a wide variety of comedians, athletes, and political figures, including Jackie Robinson and Eleanor Roosevelt. DOC NYC alumna Paula Eiselt resurrects this vanished world with an immersive warmth, providing a timely reminder of the historic richness of Jewish culture and its immeasurable contributions to American life.

“What We Inherit”
Directed by Kacim Steets Azouz

In a political landscape marked by racialized power structures, an Algerian-American filmmaker raised in Canada decides to turn the lens on his family. His ancestors, he discovered, did great things—and owned slaves. What We Inherit unpacks this complicated legacy and directly engages with descendants of the people held captive by the filmmaker’s ancestors.

“Y Vân: The Lost Sounds of Saigon”
Directed by Khoa Ha and Victor Velle

Growing up in the US, filmmaker Khoa Ha always knew her grandfather was a famous musician in her native Vietnam. What she didn’t realize was the magnitude of his popularity or the mystique that surrounded his real background. In excavating the story of the musician Y Vân, she not only discovers the man behind the persona but also unearths a part of Vietnamese music history that was lost to time.

Review: ‘Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost,’ starring Ben Stiller, Amy Stiller, Christine Taylor, Ella Stiller and Quinlin Stiller

October 5, 2025

by Carla Hay

A late 1960s archival photo of (pictured clockwise, from left) Anne Meara, Jerry Stiller, Amy Stiller and Ben Stiller in “Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost” (Photo courtesy of Apple TV+)

“Stiller and Meara: Nothing Is Lost”

Directed by Ben Stiller

Culture Representation: The documentary film “Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost” features an all-white group of people who are connected in some way to American entertainer spouses Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara.

Culture Clash: Stiller and Meara, who came from different backgrounds (his family was Polish Jewish, her family was Irish Catholic), overcame obstacles in their careers and personal lives to become successful entertainers during their 61-year marriage.

Culture Audience: “Stiller and Meara: Nothing Is Lost” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the Stiller family of entertainers and celebrity documentaries that are told from the perspectives of family members.

Ben Stiller and Amy Stiller in “Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost” (Photo courtesy of Apple TV+)

“Stiller and Meara: Nothing Is Lost” is the cinematic equivalent of looking at someone’s family photo albums, watching family home videos, and hearing family stories. This documentary is exactly what it appears to be: a loving tribute to Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, directed by their son, Ben Stiller. It’s a not groundbreaking film, but it nicely demonstrates themes of love, loyalty and legacy. At times, the movie almost detours into a Ben Stiller biography, but it generally stays on track and achieves its purpose of giving an up-close-and-personal look at the matriarch and patriarch in this longtime successful showbiz family.

“Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost”(which had its world premiere at the 2025 New York Film Festival) follows a conventional format of mixing archive footage with footage filmed exclusively for the documentary. Ben Stiller (who is a famous entertainer in his own right) gives insightful narration, as he puts the documentary in a setting of himself and his older sister Amy Stiller sifting through their parents’ belongings in a New York City apartment. Meara died in 2015, at age 85. Jerry Stiller died in 2020, at age 92.

The movie has an intimate tone because most of the people interviewed for the documentary are family members. In addition to featuring conversations with Ben and Amy, the documentary shows separate conversations that Ben with his actress wife, Christine Taylor, and their two children: Ella (born in 2002) and Quinlin (born in 2005). Also interviewed are Jerry’s sister Doreen Stiller; Dawn Eaton, a longtime associate of the Stiller family; and playwright John Guare, whose original 1971 off-Broadway production of “House of Blue Leaves” starred Meara.

The documentary chronicles what is already publicly known, such as how Meara and Jerry met in 1953, and fell in love in their hometown of New York City; how they got married in 1954, and became a famous comedic duo; and the end of their comedy duo act and what projects the spouses did separately. They were truly a case of opposites attract: He was from a Polish Jewish family and was neurotically insecure about his talent. She was from an Irish Catholic family and was the “life of the party.” He started his entertainment career doing mostly comedy. She came from a serious drama background in theater.

According to Ben, Jerry would be the type of entertainer who would diligently over-rehearse, while Meara was comfortable with improvisation. Jerry thought that Meara was more talented than he was, so he felt like he had to work harder. It’s mentioned several times in the documentary that the couple’s on-stage interactions were reflections of their off-stage relationship. Meara was the more outspoken partner who would often take the lead in conversations, while Jerry tended to be more deferential.

The documentary also includes discussion of the childhoods of Jerry and Meara. Jerry’s father Willie (who was a driver of taxis and buses) was a wannabe actor who attempted to make a career out of it but never made it. In an audio archival interview, Willie said he gave up acting because he had to have a job “to make ends meet.” Willie passed on his love of entertainment to Jerry, who graduated from Syracuse University in 1950 with a bachelor’s degree in speech and drama.

By all accounts, Meara (who had no siblings) had a family who did not expect her to work in showbiz. Meara’s path to becoming an entertainer started in 1947, when she took acting classes at the New School in New York City. Meara’s father Edward was an attorney, and she was deeply affected by her mother Mary’s suicide, which happened when Anne was 11 years old.

It’s hinted that this childhood trauma, which Anne did not like to discuss, could have led to her adult problem of alcohol abuse, which she was able to overcome with Jerry’s help. The movie gives some insight into how this drinking problem negatively affected her marriage and other relationships, However, you get the feeling that there was a lot more that happened concerning the alcohol abuse that was deliberately kept out of the documentary.

The documentary also shows that Jerry was the “pack rat”/family archivist. While sifting through boxes of his parents’ possessions, Ben marvels, “It’s insane what he kept.” (Some of the memorabilia includes admission tickets to places where the family went to in the 1960s and 1970s.) Jerry also kept articles about the family. One of the best parts of the documentary is when Ben reads excepts from a few of his parents’ love letters to each other.

“Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost” would be remiss if it didn’t talk about the influence that this famous couple had on their children. Ben and Amy both share fond childhood memories of being encouraged to create characters and do skits. Ben says he became influenced to become a filmmaker when his father got him a Super 8 camera when Ben was a child.

In the documentary, Ben and Amy both say that their parents like to work on their comedy material behind closed doors and didn’t like to be disturbed when working. However, what made it into the comedy act was often dialogue that Ben and Amy say came from real-life conversations that their parents had. There are several clips in the documentary showing Amy and Ben being interviewed on TV with their parents, who clearly did not discourage their children from being in the spotlight.

Although Ben and Amy tell similar stories of their own childhoods, the documentary admirably shows how two siblings who grew up in the same family can also tell a story in two different ways. Ben says that when he decided to become a professional entertainer, he felt that his parents’ fame cast a long shadow, and he was determined to prove he could make it on his own. But then, Amy chimes in and reminds Ben that Ben always put either or both of their parents in almost every film or sketch he did early in his career.

The movie includes archival footage of Jerry and Anne in Ben’s audition video for “Saturday Night Live.” Ben had a short-lived stint on “Saturday Night Live” as a featured player during show’s 14th season in 1989. Ben’s big comedy series breakthrough was on “The Ben Stiller Show,” which was on the air from 1990 to 1995. The documentary also includes archival clips of Anne and Jerry on “The Ben Stiller Show.”

Ben describes his parents as loving, but his mother was harder to please. Even though Jerry and Anne were most famous for comedy, Ben says his mother still had a drama snob mentality for most of her life. She maintained an opinion that if entertainment has a hierarchy, then comedy is on the lower level. Viewers might be surprised to learn that although Ben might have benefited from being a “nepo baby,” Ben says his mother didn’t really encourage or fully approve of the comedy films that he became famous for, such as 1998’s “There’s Something About Mary” or 2000’s “Meet the Parents.” Anne liked it when Ben did a more “serious” movie like 1998’s “Permanent Midnight” or 2010’s “Greenberg.”

At times, “Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost” gets a little too wrapped up in Ben’s perspective. For example, there’s a sequence that shows Jerry and Anne doing their comedy act on a breakthrough 1963 appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” intercut with footage of Ben appearing at the Ed Sullivan Theatre in New York City for an appearance on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.” It’s meant to show how aspects of Ben’s life are continuations or parallels of his parents’ lives. However, it comes across as a bit self-indulgent because viewers are smart enough to already know that Ben has made public appearances at many of the same places that his parents did.

Despite a few missteps where the documentary’s tone veers into “enough about Jerry and Anne, here’s more about Ben,” the documentary benefits from Ben’s candor when he talks about his motivation for doing the documentary. Ben says that after his father died in 2020, Ben confesses that he felt “unhappy,” “out of balance” and “a little lost.” Having experienced a separation and reconciliation in his own marriage, Ben set out to make a documentary about his parents and their long-term marriage. “I wanted to understand how they did it.”

“Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost” is about more than a marriage that survived the perils of showbiz. It’s a crowd-pleasing story about a family that is undoubtedly influenced by two people who paved the family’s way in the entertainment industry but also held the family together when so many others fall apart in similar circumstances. The message of the documentary is having an emotionally healthy and supportive family is an accomplishment and a privilege that matters so much more than fame and fortune.

Apple Studios will release “Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost” in select U.S. cinemas on October 17, 2025. The movie will premiere on Apple TV+ on October 24, 2025.