‘Allen v. Farrow’: anguish in public
Viewers in search of deeply uncomfortable viewing should not miss “Allen v. Farrow” (9 p.m. Sunday, HBO, TV-MA). The four-part documentary series examines allegations that filmmaker Woody Allen molested Mia Farrow’s adopted daughter Dylan in the years they were together and in the time leading up to Allen’s deeply peculiar relationship with Farrow’s other adopted daughter, Soon Yi.
Dylan’s allegations have been floating about since news about the Soon Yi story broke in 1992. They have never risen to the level of criminal prosecution, and Allen has alleged that they were a product of Mia Farrow’s need for revenge.
Mia Farrow speaks frankly here about her relationship with Allen, accompanying recollections by Dylan and some of her siblings and family friends, including her brother (and Allen’s biological son), Ronan Farrow.
Admitting that this is the first time she has discussed these events in decades, Mia Farrow comes off as remarkably frank. And opens herself up to serious second-guessing. She completely understands why people may remain sympathetic to Allen, because, after all, he’s Woody Allen, a cultural icon that millions admired and related to, particularly New Yorkers of a certain vintage.
Friends of the family and neighbors recall a relationship between Allen and young Dylan that was obviously intense and inappropriate. Farrow admitted that she convinced herself that it was not predatory but stemmed from Allen’s awkwardness and inexperience around children. She continued to make excuses for Allen until discovering photographic evidence of a sexual relationship between him and Soon Yi.
Journalist Ronan Farrow has long been a champion of his sister Dylan’s claims. Along the way, he has documented evidence that brought about the downfall of media figures including Matt Lauer and producer Harvey Weinstein. If the #MeToo movement is a revolution, he may be its Samuel Adams.
In the past six months, HBO has broadcast two documentaries, including this one, about an alleged culprit who literally sired
his own prosecutor. “Baby God,” which aired in December, is about a Las Vegas fertility doctor who used his own sperm to impregnate unsuspecting women. The truth was only uncovered by a middle-aged police detective who happened to be one of his offspring.
In this film, Allen’s own son has grown up to doggedly pursue the truth about his famous father’s behavior. It’s a turn of events too strange for a movie script. It smacks of Greek mythology. And tragedy.
› “Supervillain: The Making of Tekashi 6ix9ine” (10 p.m. Sunday, Showtime, TV-MA) offers a glance at the traumatic upbringing of the hardcore rapper and how his disturbed emotional state dovetailed with social media’s appetite for shocking exhibitionism, leading to a surprisingly successful music career as well as arrests and incarceration.
› “Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy” (9 p.m. Sunday, CNN) travels to
Rome, where he samples that city’s famous cuisine. Last week’s visit to Naples revealed the host’s pleasant but entirely personal approach to his subject. Tucci is a fine actor and seems to be a nice guy, and I’m happy that he and his wife shared nice dining experiences, but “Italy” lacks the edge and curiosity we grew to expect from Anthony Bourdain’s travelogues. Such comparisons are unfair, and slightly sad to make, but they can’t be avoided. Tucci needs to bring more than mere celebrity to the table.
› The mother of a missing woman dedicates her life to discovering her fate in the 2021 feature “The Long Island Serial Killer: A Mother’s Hunt for Justice” (8 p.m. Saturday, Lifetime, TV-14), a dramatization of real events. After the scripted drama, “Long Island Serial Killer: Enhanced Edition” (10 p.m., TV-PG) offers a documentary follow-up.