At the height of his stardom Michael Jackson began long-running relationships with two boys, aged 7 and 10, and their families. Now in their 30s, they tell the story of how they were sexually abused by Jackson, and how they came to terms with it years later.
Warning: This review — like the film it describes — contains frank discussion of sex abuse involving children. Please read with caution.
It may not be much of a secret that Michael Jackson acted inappropriately with a number of young boys, but there’s no way to prepare yourself for the sickening forensic details presented in Dan Reed’s four-hour exposé. It’s one thing to be vaguely aware of the various allegations that were made against the King of Pop; the asterisks that will always be next to the late mega-star’s name. It’s quite another to hear the horrifyingly lucid testimony that stretches across the entire duration of “Leaving Neverland,” as two of Jackson’s most repeat victims bravely lay bare how a…
First film I saw at Sundance and I almost feel too sick, too betrayed, to see anything else.
Look, I get it. MJ was undoubtedly a legend. His music was frequent in my home growing up and my family was in a state of grief when he died in 2009. The black community lost an icon, and 10 years later, the truth about him will be a hard pill to swallow indeed.
But believe me when I say that this is as damning of an account as we'll likely ever get. I believe the victims and so should you.
Holy fuck, this film fucked me up. I’m still processing and don’t yet have the capacity to express all the emotions that I’m feeling at the moment.
What I will say is that this film is brave, fearless and bold, and needed to be made to push the conversation forward — not necessarily on Michael Jackson, but in the total sense of child abuse, pedophilia and seduction through power and fame.
Lastly, this is a film that MJ fans will try to pan — but it’s one that needs to be seen to understand the man behind the icon.
Lol @ all these brand new letterboxd accounts for people to stand up for a child molestor giving this a half star. Online Michael Jackson fan forums have organized “raids” where they go to online sites criticizing Michael and leaving comments, writing comments that they all upvote so it goes to the top, etc. It’s pretty gross and I’d love if the letterboxd moderators would delete comments that are not about the film itself.
When Michael Jackson died in 2009, Wade Robson—the former choreographer whose allegations of abuse are at the center of a controversial new documentary, Leaving Neverland—wrote in tribute to his friend:
Michael Jackson changed the world and, more personally, my life forever. He is the reason I dance, the reason I make music, and one of the main reasons I believe in the pure goodness of humankind. He has been a close friend of mine for 20 years. His music, his movement, his personal words of inspiration and encouragement and his unconditional love will live inside of me forever. I will miss him immeasurably, but I know that he is now at peace and enchanting the heavens with a melody and…
Michael Jackson was, is and will ALWAYS be innocent. Nothing will ever change this proven fact. Please let this man Rest In Peace... he’s been through enough.
Fuck Wade, Jimmy, the director, anyone who funded and took part in this movie, the people who are responsible for allowing it to be played at the Sundance film festival and HBO. Fuck y’all PERIOD.
So this is what I saw when I wanted to check my comment under a review of an user which is named "tigra":
"A Letterboxd moderator has removed this comment."
I am so shocked beyond words that it makes me wonder if there's some kind of a rule on this site that says every one of users must agree with what reviewers write and must not say those are shitty or ask them if they got paid or not because that was exactly what I wrote. I found her review shitty and I said it, I found her sentence starting with "Once I was a fan..." ridiculuous and I asked if she got paid to write her review because THAT'S…
[streamed on HBO's press site]
Thoughts forthcoming in a piece; not sure how to "rate" as a work of art (as opposed to a vessel for conveying the testimony of its subjects), exactly.
Lol @ all these brand new letterboxd accounts for people to stand up for a child molestor giving this a half star. Online Michael Jackson fan forums have organized “raids” where they go to online sites criticizing Michael and leaving comments, writing comments that they all upvote so it goes to the top, etc. It’s pretty gross and I’d love if the letterboxd moderators would delete comments that are not about the film itself.
I want to ask the director is why did he only interview Jimmy Safechucks and Wade Robson. Why didn't he think he should interview Macaulay Culkins, Brett Barnes, Corey Feldman? Forget about that why didn't he interview dance community? Why did Robson's own community didn't come forward to back him in documentary? Also basis of people believing this documentary is because how similar the two alleged victims story is because they never met.. That's what Dan Reed said but both Jimmy Safechucks and Wade Robson is represented by same lawyer Vince Finaldi and Wade himself stated in 2016 that he spoke to Jimmy Safechuck in 2014. The documentary is rehash from Victor Gutierrez slander piece 'Michael Jackson was my lover'. It's really easy to make stories if you have books to back up. This documentary is mockery of real victims because we have these fake victims getting credibility and their lies could be easily disputed
When Michael Jackson died in 2009, Wade Robson—the former choreographer whose allegations of abuse are at the center of a controversial new documentary, Leaving Neverland—wrote in tribute to his friend:
Michael Jackson changed the world and, more personally, my life forever. He is the reason I dance, the reason I make music, and one of the main reasons I believe in the pure goodness of humankind. He has been a close friend of mine for 20 years. His music, his movement, his personal words of inspiration and encouragement and his unconditional love will live inside of me forever. I will miss him immeasurably, but I know that he is now at peace and enchanting the heavens with a melody and…
This film features two admitted liars and con artists, who were laughed at court and whose cases were thrown out. Wade Robson defended Michael Jackson until he went broke and didn't know what to do with his career anymore. Not only did he defend him, but he and his entire family spent time with Michael, went barbecuing with him, and Wade introduced his fiancee to Michael at his Neverland Ranch. Wade Robson also dated two of Michael Jackson's nieces.
Their graphic claims are actually based on Victor Gutierrez filthy pro-pedophilic book, called "Michael Jackson Was My Lover" (which was written back in the 90s and has a relationship between Jordan Chandler and Michael as it's theme). The entire book consists…
Michael Jackson was, is and will ALWAYS be innocent. Nothing will ever change this proven fact. Please let this man Rest In Peace... he’s been through enough.
Fuck Wade, Jimmy, the director, anyone who funded and took part in this movie, the people who are responsible for allowing it to be played at the Sundance film festival and HBO. Fuck y’all PERIOD.
Feelings and emotions can be deceiving and that's something, film critics, who studied journalism, should know about.
This documentary recalls the testimony of two alleged victims of pop star Michael Jackson. The first 40 minutes the films does a good job in presenting who they are to the general audience
After that, it all downhill. The documentary relies on telling the most horrible and graphic description of abuse as a way of "evidence" and knowing that film critics and cinephiles, who tend to go for emotions, especially the one of morbid nature, will take as the holy bible. The worst thing about it, is that so one sided, yet not a single "professional" review is talking about it
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