Delayed Reaction: Audrie & Daisy

The Pitch: The story of two victims of sexual assaults and how differently their stories end.

I found out about this documentary from a Drew McWeeny post. I didn't know much about it and I wasn't quite prepared. This is a tough film. It's essentially about the experiences of victims of sexual assault and how if affects their lives afterward in just about every way. I had plans to watch another movie that was kind of dark after this and, instead, I ended up switching to my Coupling DVDs to cheer me up.

There isn't anything adventurous about the film. It tells two stories (mainly) and uses another victim of assault to link them. It dives deep into the "Scarlet lettering" and victim-blaming that occurs. The things that happened to these girls are objectively bad and it's telling their stories. There's no interest in trying to explain any other "sides" or figuring out why people react the way they do. That's a story for another project. I hope I never get "used" to hearing stories like this, although I'm certain I've seen an SVU for every angle of these stories.

This is a great film for presenting a perspective; one that is commonly ignored or mishandled in film and TV. I can't say I'm glad I saw this, because that's clearly the wrong word, but it is worth seeing.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend