Great Photo, Lovely Life

This is without a doubt one of the strongest and most self-aware documentaries I have ever seen. Beautiful visuals and nuanced delivery. It feels like I'm experiencing someone's memories firsthand.

The film rings so true to family dysfunction - and the complex ways that the human mind processes that dysfunction in order to protect ourselves. It tracks many years in the life of the family, so we see through the camerawoman's eyes how family dynamics play out both short-term and long-term. It's honest and heartfelt.

So many documentaries go overboard with exposition and oversimplify trauma. This one doesn't. Highly recommend.

What was the purpose? He didnt went to jail again, noone got closure, no laws were changed, he wasnt even confronted the right way, the family didnt heal and he even did his thing one last time in his final days! We can excuse everything with creating "awareness" but its just too trivial in my opinion. I feel she used his whole family suffering to create this documentary. There we're too many shots where she was the "movie star". I know it wasnt an easy documentary to create because of the emocional connection, but i think that affected the whole project. Im just happy it ended.

The topic behind this piece is really serious and has to be talked about (or screamed) but in some points it was just the excuse to show drama.

From a technical stand point i really likes the cinematography and the edition, it makes you feel a lot of things and that is what art is supposed to do.

I cant rate this.

A lot of reviwes are from people who have been affected by Monsters like the grandfather. I don't walk in their shoes and can't take in the pain they have suffered all their lives, not just the abuse but that it is a loved family member who is the abuser So for me this make me angry, I could not understand why they visited that monster, be in the same room as it. It should have been thrown out with the trash not put into a care home, how much did that cost the family? Did the care home know what he had done?

The mother said as they were going thou the clothes "we need to laugh" because she knows she is guilty. She was abused why would she ever go anywhere near her parents again? I know it's easy to say "it's her parents" it's not that easy to walk away. But she left her daughter alone in the house The grandmother was as bad as IT in my opinion she knew what was going on, but done F ALL and then we have the religion BS, it's like the Mafia kill 10 people then pop to Church The old C@@T was not even sorry, in his sick F up mind. It's all good cause Jesus will forgive me As for forgetting I can't comment on that, but i suppose to be able to live your life can you forget? Some people can put bad things that happen to you away deep in your heart behind a padlock, but it still affects them A lot of people are saying Amanda was wrong to make this film, what I got from it, she is angry with her mother more then the Monster as her mother could have got him arrested and she done zero and made it worse, this doc was not just about the Monster IT but also to hurt the mother.

As for the other victims, you can't force someone to appear on TV and the one with the daughter who was preggers seemed fine being on the program We all want to look up to our parents and be proud of them and make them proud of us.

Sometimes you have to admit who they really are and let the world know.

I'm floored, disturbed, angry, and in utter dismay after seeing this. The bravery needed to tell this story must have been insurmountable. Endless gratitude to Amanda for doing this work and to her sister, mother, and all her grandfather's victims for surviving it.

The unending forgiveness and gifts of contact & affection, even still calling him "Grampa" instead of just "Bill" left me disgusted. It was a reminder at how skewed religion can make us in regard to the forgiveness aspect.

But I have no theory on the contact and affection. Only resentment. I'm sure it must have been difficult and complicated, but it made me angry that he got to experience the joy and love of having his family in his life when he clearly didn't deserve to.

Everyone should see this film, especially if you live with "a secret you shouldn't have to keep".

In spite of this person being an absolute, unremorsful monster, his family showed him the compassion and love he didn't deserve and never showed to his countless victims. I certainly wouldn't have been so kind in this situation.

As someone from a family with the patriarch also doing such things, this family's ability to confront his actions head on makes me sad my family never could speak openly about what had happened. Quite the opposite, this was buried deep down and became a shameful secret only part of the family even knows about today.

My expectation is that everybody who watched this documentary or is reading this review has experience to some degree, either personally, or with a loved one some form of sexual abuse. It is staggering and disgusting how pervasive these behaviors are but if we are ever going to slow its momentum it's by being upfront and honest and teaching our children to speak up.

Powerful and jarring movie.