Robert Greene’s latest film, created with six men who were abused by Catholic priests and clergy, is a collaborative exercise in trauma recovery.
Greene’s probing, observational enterprise began serendipitously. He came across the survivors and their stories while watching a press conference that Rebecca Randles, an attorney who has investigated nearly 400 allegations against these particular religious ministers, held with three of the six men who would participate in his documentary.
Moved by their testimonies, Greene — who, according to press notes, had already been thinking about trauma and the body — contacted Randles. Would her clients, he wondered, be interested in making a film? The group’s affirmative answer led to a three-year collaboration among Greene, Randles, registered drama therapist Monica Phinney, and the six men .is, at its core, an extended group therapy session.
Moving at a deliberate and steady pace, the documentary chronicles every stage of the survivors’ process. There is the initial skepticism and trepidation masked with humor, followed by a timid acceptance of the terms. Then comes community. The six men begin to find solace in their shared trauma. They learn more about how reflexive behaviors are subconscious coping mechanisms and help one another navigate the difficult emotional terrain.
The film demands every bit of attention from its viewers as it moves from group therapy session to the storyboarding and eventual production of the shorts. The men choose various ways to own their narratives but decide to cast the same actor in all six films. One man wants to reenact a recurring nightmare, another crafts an expletive-filled rant to the people — especially the adults — who failed him.
Greene’s process — free of judgment, rooted in care — raises compelling questions about documentary filmmaking and what it can accomplish. For those familiar with his previous work, these inquiries won’t be new or surprising. But here inthey seemed to have been refined and attuned to an exciting sense of possibility — that there is freedom in coming together to tell a familiar story differently.
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