This four-part documentary delves into the painful details of the child molestation charges filed against Woody Allen by Mia Farrow back in 1992. Dylan Farrow, adopted by Mia and Woody, who was then seven years old, alleged that Woody sexually molested her in the attic of the family home in Connecticut. But it is not only this heinous alleged crime that is once again scrutinized, but the pattern of inappropriate behavior Woody demonstrated toward Dylan, leading up this incident, along with the admitted sexual relationship that Woody started with Mia’s adopted daughter, Soon Yi, when she was a teenager.
Told almost entirely from Dylan and Mia’s voices (and her younger brother, Ronan, who basically re-blew the whistle) and corroborated by family and friends, it is hard to ignore the mountain of evidence. Even though Woody and Soon-YI, now his wife of many years, refused to participate in this documentary, archival footage of Woody from that time, along with excerpts from his published autobiography, both corroborate and deny his wrongdoings. Testimony clearly placed Soon-Yi having sexual encounters with Woody when she was still a minor, which appears to set the stage for the alleged molestation of Dylan.
Most fascinating is the public relations machine that Woody, with huge respect and support in New York and a man of endless means, spun up to paint Mia as an unfit mother. Woody even sued for custody of Dylan, Ronan and their brother Moses, only to be chastised by the presiding judge and lose horribly in court as the details of his inappropriate sexual relationship with a minor Soon-YI and his inappropriate behavior with Dylan came to light. But ultimately, it the words of the adult Dylan, that cannot be denied.
ALLEN v. FARROW provides a mountain of evidence against the famous filmmaker, making this documentary from HBO MAX unsettling as it is fascinating.
