Allen v. Farrow [2021]

Allen V. Farrow will not be the show stopping the career of Woody Allen. But if half of what’s presented in this four-parts HBO documentary is true, the public pressure should not stop until it does.

Honestly, I didn’t know about any of the subject matter until very recently, like 2020 recently. So obviously, I was hesitant to watch it, let along believe it.

To my surprise, directors Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering did an excellent job, almost perfect. Allen V. Farrow gives you a look behind the scenes to reveal the private story of the accusation of sexual abuse against Woody Allen involving his 7-year-old daughter, Dylan Farrow, with Mia Farrow. Somehow, even with what’s obviously damming evidence, Allen was never convicted of a crime and continued to make movies without the allegations affecting his carrer until very recently.

However, as the documentary points out, Allen’s pariah status in the U.S. bears similarities to convicted rapist Roman Polanski, whose “An Officer and a Spy” won France’s Cesar Award for Best Film almost a year ago.

Hollywood aside, Woody Allen’s family supporters are few. The first one is Sun Yi Previn, one of Farrow’s adopted children, ended up marrying Allen. My concern, and that’s hinted at in the third episode, is that Woody Allen sexually assaulted Previn at some point around the same time he sexually assaulted Dylan. Surprisingly, she had a different reaction.

However, the second child to support Woody Allen is the one to raise eyebrows. In the early 1990s, when the allegations first were raised and the custody battle was ongoing, Moses Farrow came out in full support of his mother and sister. In fact, Allen V. Farrow even highlights letters and audio recordings from Moses to support that claim. However, at some point, Moses flipped his story and went all the way in Woody’s direction. I seriously suspect that there was a financial incentive there. But I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.

Should you watch it?

If you still don’t believe Dylan Farrow when you watch ‘Allen v. Farrow’, It’s time to ask yourself why? Yes, it’s mainly a one-sided account of those events, but you have enough audio and video recordings to take a stand.

Where can I watch it?

You can stream Allen v. Farrow on HBO, HBO Max and Crave.