#Leaving neverland reviews free

Even ten years after his death, Jackson remains an iconic performer, and between his memorable songs and his infamous personal scandals, he still commands the publicвЂ™s imagination. Inciting controversy before its Sundance world premiere because of its shocking accusations, the film is set to air on HBO in the States and Channel 4 in the UK. ItвЂ™s hard to think of a film about abuse, denial, acceptance and recovery more affecting than this one While the deceased pop star is never far from the centre of Leaving Neverland, itвЂ™s more accurate to say that this is a story of two men, and their families, whose lives were forever shattered. Such a description might make this documentary sound like tawdry tabloid fodder, but director Dan Reed has instead crafted an utterly sobering portrait of abuse - how it happens, how the survivors internalise (and sometimes deny) what happened to them, and what the impact of those lingering wounds can be. (Both testified, as children, in support of Jackson during another case of child sex abuse.) But the pain and anger they display now as they unravel the illusions and coercions of a practiced manipulator are harder to dismiss.More than justifying its four-hour runtime, Leaving Neverland absorbs as it devastates, shining a spotlight on two young men with damning allegations of how Michael Jackson sexually abused them when they were children. That it should take this long for Safechuck and Robson to come forward is something that has been seized on by those who would prefer not to believe their stories. (If thereвЂ™s one unfortunate absence in the documentary, it is of those people, JacksonвЂ™s enablers and protectors, whose innocence is harder to credit.) Coercions For the boys, the reality was an uglier, considered kind of grooming, introduced to masturbation at the age of seven by a man in his 30s, who escalated sexual contact as a way of expressing вЂњloveвЂќ while carefully finding camouflage and training them in the art of denial.ДЄt the same time, he pushed their families away, both figuratively and literally: вЂњOur rooms got further and further away from MichaelвЂ™s room,вЂќ remembers Stephanie Safechuck, who remonstrated with JacksonвЂ™s people. To some extent everyone was seduced: from the mother who came to regard Jackson as вЂњone of my sonsвЂќ, to a pop culture that indulged the idiosyncrasies of вЂњWacko JackoвЂќ.

Leaving Neverland: Wade Robson says Michael Jackson sexually assaulted him for seven years

Separately they unravel similar stories about their earliest awed encounters with an idol who indulged them lavishly (вЂњIt was like IвЂ™d been anointed in some kind of way,вЂќ says Robson), whisked their families away on tours, holidays, spending sprees and retreats to Neverland, gained their confidence, and then sexually corrupted them.

вЂњHe was one of the kindest, most gentle, loving, caring people I knew.вЂќ begins Wade Robson, вЂњand he also sexually abused me, for seven years.вЂќД«oth he and Safechuck make compelling subjects, interviewed at unflinching length, and each emotionally conflicted.

#Leaving neverland reviews free

Photograph: Taylor Jewell/Invision/APДirector Dan ReedвЂ™s film is a gruelling watch, a steady dismantling of the intoxicating aura that Jackson created, a sustained assault on innocence: on that of his alleged victims, James Safechuck and Wade Robson, their beguiled families and any fans who would still rather have their pleasures free from contamination. Michael Jackson accusers Robson and Safechuck say that it is first time theyвЂ™ve ever felt public support for their allegations the King of Pop molested them. One unasked question in Leaving Neverland: Michael Jackson and Me (Channel 4, Wednesday, 9pm) вЂ“ a documentary that, over the span of two parts and almost four hours, leaves very few stones unturned вЂ“ is whether or not we had lost our minds as well? How else could a man who preferred the company of children, on stage, in private or in the vast Versailles of his giddying, dream-like home, be excused as a harmless eccentric, no more than a child himself? How does anyone trust such a man, who by that time had already begun sharing his bedroom with her son? Or had Robson lost her mind? вЂњYes, I think I had,вЂќ she says today.Д«oth Robson and Safechuck make compelling subjects, interviewed at unflinching length, and each emotionally conflicted But high among them was to be closer to Michael Jackson, the biggest pop star in the world, who had come to seem like a close family friend. Joy Robson was moving for a few reasons, among them the opportunities it would bring her young son Wade, a dance prodigy. Her father asked her a direct and simple question: вЂњHave you lost your mind?вЂќ Almost 30 years ago, a mother in Australia prepared to board a plane for Los Angeles with her young son and daughter, a move that would decisively break up their family for the chance to live in a fantasy.