Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
Louis has gained access to Coalinga Mental Hospital in California, which houses more than 500 of the most disturbed criminals in America, convicted paedophiles. Most have already served lengthy prison sentences, but have been deemed unsafe for release. Instead, they have been sent here for an indefinite time. Spending time with those undergoing treatment, Louis wrestles with whether he can ever allow himself to believe men whose whole history is defined by deception and deceit.
Louis Theroux brings his signature disarming intimacy to one of the most taboo and uncomfortable subjects imaginable — convicted paedophiles housed indefinitely in a California mental facility. The novelty is genuinely high: few documentarians would pursue this subject with such unflinching empathy and moral complexity, and Theroux's method of quiet, persistent questioning yields remarkable candour from deeply unsettling subjects. The plot structure follows his characteristic observational arc, letting subjects gradually reveal themselves, though the format is familiar to Theroux fans. Cinematography is functional TV-documentary fare — competent but unremarkable. The ending resists easy resolution, which is honest but leaves the viewer without catharsis. Acting is not applicable in the traditional sense, but the subjects' performances of rehabilitation — and Theroux's navigation of whether to believe them — provide real dramatic tension.