Doccie full of regret but not from its subjects

THE miscreants alluded to in the title of the documentary They Call Us Monsters are a trio of teenage boys incarcerated in a California juvenile detention facility for charges ranging from attempted murder to actual murder.

Although they’re children, they have been charged with doing some pretty monstrous things. The baby-faced Antonio, for instance – who was arrested one month after his 14th birthday for two attempted murders – says he feels no remorse.

Juan, who joined a gang before his 13th birthday as a way to gain respect, and who has been charged with fatally shooting a man three times at point-blank range.

It isn’t just the outside world that views these children as monsters, it seems, but also the kids themselves.

What to make of Ben Lear’s documentary, which follows the three boys over the course of a prison screenwriting workshop they participate in with film-maker Gabriel Cowan, who is also one of the film’s producers? During these workshop sessions, the boys suggest characters and scenes for a short film that was ultimately made about a boy much like themselves.

Missing from Lear’s film is much-needed context about the efficacy of rehabilitation vs society’s desire for punishment – not to mention the need to keep violent offenders off the street. – The Washington Post