Let's get out of here
Continuing my trip up The Guardian's Top 50 Films of 2021
#28 : Procession
Robert Greene’s extraordinary documentary follows the stories of six men abused as children by Catholic priests in Kansas City with remarkable care and creativity.
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I've always said I like a good documentary, but last year's exercise taught me that I prefer a documentary that tells a story rather than a biographical documentary, so I had high hopes for this one even though I had a slight suspicion it wasn't going to be the easiest of watches.
And the first scene is a real-life press conference given by some survivors of sexual abuse by priests which gave some horrific, but unfortunately not entirely surprising, statistics. However, the press conference gives some impression of closure and a caption then announces that the film-makers only started thinking about making the film after seeing the press conference. It then tells us that the film documents a three year process involving the film-makers, the men, their lawyer and a drama therapist - which I'd have to say got me very intrigued as to how it was all going to work out.
And you can tell from the initial scenes that the men were also intrigued as to how it was going to work out, but I'd have to say they are all remarkably open to trying something different. They're also very open in expressing their emotions on camera - these obviously vary greatly across the group but they all share the hope that they'll gain some closure, mixed with the fear that their hope will be misplaced, resulting in either no progress or worse, some regression.
And basically, the film follows them on their journey through the therapy (which involves them creating some dramatic output based on their experiences) whilst mixing in their back-stories. I'd have to say they all come across as incredibly strong individuals - not just in the traditional sense of coping with their own experiences (in their own very different ways) but also in their willingness to share, accept and support the others' experiences, their coping mechanisms and their chosen way forward. And in some cases, they achieve some quite astonishing things you can't imagine they would have managed otherwise - seeing them dressing up as priests to act out the role of abuser is certainly quite arresting. It's also interesting how they all view themselves as broken individuals and they certainly have been broken but it's feel like the pieces have been put back together pretty strongly, if possibly not strong in all directions.
The various outputs from the drama therapy are interesting windows into survivor memories - they are of varying quality, but the quality isn't really the point here (although a couple of them are surprisingly well put together). In general, I found the creative process and decisions involved much more interesting than the actual output but the scene where Mike (who has some serious anger issues) is talking to/shouting at Terrick, who is the child actor playing young Mike is fascinating and you can almost feel Mike's anger and guilt dissipating throughout the scene. It's also interesting to see where therapy can be unexpectedly hiding - one of the men takes great pleasure in destroying the set created for his scene.
In a film featuring very few actors, I have to call out Terrick Trobough's incredibly mature performance - he's in his early teens and he plays the younger version of all the men in their therapeutic output, either being directed or observed by them as they address some horrific memories and then having to respond to their real-life reactions (which are often, understandably, quite unpredictable) - sometimes in character and sometimes as himself. He also obviously understands how important everything is to the people involved and how, as a consequence, "he" is to them - it's a lot to take on for anyone, but he seems to cope admirably. Monica Phinney also deserves a name check as the drama therapist - she plays a vital role in helping everyone find their path and help them along it.
But the film really belongs to Joe, Mike, Ed, Dan, Michael and Tom. It really was a pleasure and a privilege watching them support each other throughout and their acceptance of what can't have been an obvious choice for them to address their terrible situations was truly humbling. It really felt like the process has helped them all to some degree, so I hope it has.
It's not an easy watch, but it is a genuinely fascinating film on many levels - it is a documentary, but it's so much more than that and shows people at their best after they have experienced people at their worst and offers some good insight into how therapy can work for people. The film works particularly well because it has multiple strands - the survivors back and ongoing stories, the drama therapy process, progress and output and the film-making process, progress and output all contribute equally. I can't help but feel that everyone was incredibly lucky with the people involved - the group, the therapist, the child actor and the film-makers all work together incredibly well with such sensitivity that we, the audience, can't help but get invested in them all and hope they find some closure.
At the time of writing, the film is available on Netflix and it's likely to be there for some time - because it's a Netflix film. As I said, it's not an easy watch but I think it's a very good film - I really enjoyed it. I feel it educated me on the potential of therapy and it was a privilege to join these men on their journey - yes, the method of navigation was not expected or usual, but it was very interesting one and was handled with both great sensitivity and openness which was hugely rewarding. It was also entirely not what I expected - because seriously, who would expect this? But it manages to make a weird but surprisingly uplifting film out of a horrible situation - it won't be for everyone, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't watch it.
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