It’s a bit on the sensational side, but this Netflix documentary about a family torn apart by the medical industry is fascinating and empathetic enough to bring justice to its delicate subject matter. Director Henry Roosevelt takes care to use as many angles as possible in presenting the documentary’s central mystery —why is the hospital so insistent on separating Maya from her mother Beata?—while also leaving enough room for the audience to come to their own conclusions. I only wish they would probe into that question a bit more and get experts to hypothesize, for instance, what exactly would the hospital get out of allegedly lying and if it’s an occurrence that’s been happening in many places other than Florida. Painting it as a systemic problem might’ve given it more punch, though admittedly, it’s already stirring and powerful as it is.
Synopsis
When Jack and Beata Kowalski are wrongfully accused of child abuse after their 10-year-old daughter Maya visits the ER, a nightmare unfolds.
Storyline
A family from Florida reveals the harrowing ordeal they went through after nine-year-old Maya is rushed to the hospital for exhibiting strange symptoms.
TLDR
As if being a parent isn’t stressful enough, now they have medical abductions to worry about???
What stands out
The children’s grief is something that will haunt you for a good while. Seeing Maya and Kylie grow up via home videos and then grieve later on camera is an unsettling experience that really drives home just how uniquely jarring and unfair the whole situation is. On the flip side, the many families that have come forward with similar experiences, all after hearing about Maya’s case, is an inspiring sight that is hopefully the first step in this arduous but worthwhile fight against medical corporations.
