Allen v Farrow: What is it about and how can I watch in the UK?

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Allen v Farrow, HBO’s documentary about the allegations of sexual abuse against Woody Allen, has premiered in the US.

The four-part documentary series aims to go “behind the years of sensational headlines to reveal the private story of” the allegations involving Allen and Dylan Farrow, his then-seven-year-old adoptive daughter with Mia Farrow.

It goes into the subsequent custody case, as well as Allen’s relationship with Soon-Yi Previn, the adopted daughter of Mia Farrow and musician André Previn.

Read more: Allen v Farrow will sound the death knell for Woody Allen’s career

What does the documentary include?

The programme includes “intimate home movie footage, court documents, police evidence, revelatory videotape and never-before-heard audio tapes”, as well as interviews with Mia Farrow, Dylan Farrow, and Dylan’s brother Ronan Farrow.

Carly Simon, a family friend, prosecutor Frank Maco, as well as “relatives, investigators and experts” are also featured.

The documentary, according to HBO, “examines the effects of trauma on a family, and features prominent cultural voices exploring Allen's body of work in a broader context and reflecting on how public revelations about the personal lives of artists can lead to re-evaluations of their work”.

It was directed by Kirby Dick, the Oscar-nominated documentarian behind Twist of Faith and The Invisible War, and Amy Ziering, also nominated for an Academy Award for her work as a producer on The Invisible War.

When does it air and how can I watch it?

Allen v Farrow began airing in the US on HBO on 21 February at 9pm.

It is expected to air in the UK later in the year. Details have yet to be confirmed.

A trailer for the documentary series is available to watch now in both countries. Mia Farrow can be heard in the clip saying of Allen: “I wish I’d never met him.”

What are the allegations it delves into?

Dylan Farrow, now 35, has long alleged that Allen sexually abused her when she was a child.

Allen has repeatedly denied the claims, saying in part in a statement released in 2018: “I never molested my daughter.”

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The director has never faced charges in relation with the allegations of sexual abuse.

In 1993, judge Elliot Wilk issued a custody ruling in the case opposing Allen and Farrow, and in that document expressed an opinion on the allegations.

As reflected in the ruling published in full by The Huffington Post in 2014, Wilk wrote that “we will probably never know what occurred on [the date of the alleged abuse] 4 August 1992”, adding that “Mr Allen’s behaviour toward Dylan was grossly inappropriate” and “measures must be taken to protect her”.

The allegations against Allen have prompted several high-profile actors, including Colin Firth, Timothée Chalamet, and Jessica Chastain, to indicate they won’t work with the director again.

In the US, Allen’s memoir was dropped by Hachette in March 2020 after widespread criticism and a walkout by employees. Another publisher, Arcade Publishing, released the book that same month.

Dylan Farrow has worked as an advocate for survivors of sexual abuse and as a writer. She’s the author of the fantasy novel Hush, published in October 2020.

What have reviewers said about Allen v Farrow?

Variety wrote of the documentary series: “If a punishing watch, it is a valuable thing to have as a part of the cultural record, twice over: It allows, at expansive length, Dylan to meaningfully be heard, and not solely about the worst thing that ever happened to her. And it exists as countervailing force on what had been a cultural tendency towards, if not forgiveness of Allen, then a sort of ambient willingness to forget.”

The Hollywood Reporter found some “missteps” in the storytelling process “limit the intellectual heft of Allen v Farrow” but added: “The emotional heft, however, is sustained right through to the cathartic finale, in which writer Lili Loofbourow sums up perhaps the overarching thesis of Dick and Ziering’s oeuvre: ‘So much of this is about our willingness to not know the thing so that we don’t have to deal with it.’ Even doubters have to deal.”

The Daily Beast called the programme “a horrifying indictment of Woody Allen”, adding that it “points a finger at Hollywood for continuing to support Allen and strengthen his mystique”.