[7.4/10] Definitely an interesting documentary. It works best when it’s exploring how deep the rabbit hole goes for David D’Amato, his web of various websites and operations, and his dark history of abuse. There’s times when the film gets overly sensationalistic, but it’s a pretty sensationalized story to begin with. Likewise, there’s a certain amount of implicit “look at this freak show” tenor to the film, which is a touch uncomfortable. Still, the directors hit on an engrossing story with more bizarre layers the deeper they delve into it.

My one complaint is that the directors put themselves at the center of the documentary. They’re not only the least interesting part of it, but it undermines the integrity of the film a bit. Again, they’re the latest ones being harassed by D’Amato as part of their efforts to expose what he’s currently doing and has been doing, and their part of the story deserves to be told too. But having them be both the film’s directors and also its subjects not only leads to bits of self-flattery and melodrama, but suggests that they should have handed off coverage of the parts involving them to someone else, or at the very least not narrated in first person.

Still, overall this is a fascinating piece of documentary filmmaking, one that seems to just be tracking a reclusive fetishist, only to reveal this long string of abuse and intimidation with unsettling implications far beyond the film’s initial subject matter.

Well, this sure tickled my interest. This investigative journalism doc plays out a lot like David Fincher-esque thriller, but it also finds the absurdity and humour in its own subject matter. The unfolding of new events is handled really well, much like the journalists you’re constantly guessing what’s going on. The answers that we get during the third act are very satisfying; when reading between the lines I think that the final conversation between David and the grandmother connects all of the dots that have been laid down in front of us. I also like that it takes its time to explore and inform about this fetish and the business behind it. It’s weird and bizarre, but pretty harmless all things considered. Technically, it’s well paced and shot, though on a few occasions I found the editing to be overdramatic. There are also some moments where the editing seems unsure what to show, so you get a few too many generic cityscape shots. These are minor complaints though, this is a memorable documentary with a unique tone that’s sure to shock, inform, entertain and horrify. Don’t look up too much before seeing it.

8/10

P.s.: There's a fascinating 20 minute follow-up to this documentary which can be found here: https://youtu.be/K88xF9mOUjc?si=F1VSvmwJKlje2zVe