Rotten Apple: a hard hitting documentary-drama blend about an important subject | First Takes at CineWyre
Rotten Apple contains scenes some viewers may find disturbing, viewer discretion is advised.
SYNOPSIS: A hard-hitting investigation into grooming and sexual abuse within American schools, exposing how trusted adults manipulate vulnerable students and how silence from bystanders allows the harm to spread
Anchoring the two Doc Features at CineWyre is this brutal piece, that really embodies the important discussions a documentary should create with its audiences, and it comes in from a director who has become well-versed in heavy subjects from his time as a journalist.
Justin Hunt has turned in a good 1 hour 20 minute documentary that blends the conventional talking heads you'd expect in the genre, alongside scripted elements and animated sequences that tells the fictional story of Megan - a student groomed and physically involved with a married teacher. It has some high production values, and some well thought out ideas, but at times, it got just a bit too heavy - which is to be expected when you're dealing with such a sensitive subject as this. Morgan Estill's cinematography, again, adds to that Netflix documentary vibe that I was getting from the film, and the score from Lantz Hunt & Shaun Hettinger embodies the darkness of the narrative sections, and the lightness of the more traditional documentary aspects.
With a key focus on the American market, Hunt spoke to a lot of the key figures in the US school and preventative charity sector for the talking heads sections of this piece, adding some credibility and truth to what we see in the more scripted sections - and in those narrative sections, it is Paris Maese who stands out as Megan, portraying such a difficult character to perform with the sensitivity and respect it deserves. Rounding out the cast is Jason J Battle, Mia Kim, Eleanor Smith, Steve Stucker and a significant amount of performers who do their best to make the narrative elements work, even if some elements didn't quite resonate as much in a festival setting.
THE VERDICT
With production values that reminded me of Netflix's feature documentaries, Rotten Apple definitely hits the remit of a film that is designed to encourage discussion about what is, ultimately, an incredibly heavy topic. It was not an easy film to view as part of the CineWyre jury, but one which found its brief, stuck the landing, and has the potential to resonate and empower the survivors of abuse like this.
RATING: 3.5/5
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