‘Take Care of Maya’ Review: A Chronicle of a Family’s Pain

In 2016 in St. Petersburg, Florida, Maya Kowalski was rushed to the pediatric emergency room for excessive ache. The 10-year-old can be held within the hospital for 3 months below a state-issued shelter order and barred from seeing her dad and mom, whom medical doctors suspected of medical little one abuse.

The story of the Kowalskis, which was reported in The Cut final 12 months, is on the core of “Take Care of Maya” (on Netflix), a chronicle of the occasions and their aftermath. At the hospital, Maya was evaluated by a child-welfare company pediatrician who specialised in detecting little one abuse and who initially identified Munchausen Syndrome by proxy. The documentary unfolds principally from the Kowalskis’ viewpoint, counting on court docket testimony, Maya’s father’s recollections and video, audio and written information from Maya’s mom.

To watch this movie is to undergo a punishing expertise. This is just partly due to its content material, for, whereas Maya’s case includes a thorny jumble of points — a uncommon ache syndrome, a controversial routine, a doubtful little one welfare system — the director, Henry Roosevelt, approaches the fabric with a watch towards sensationalism. Every minute is charged with pressure, and one senses that scenes had been formed with the intent to scandalize moderately than enlighten.

What’s sacrificed on this method is rigor, the drive to exhaustively analyze the circumstances that led to the Kowalski household’s troubles. For occasion, the movie mentions however declines to discover the connection between Florida’s hospitals and the privatized little one welfare firms that serve them. “Take Care of Maya” is grueling, however it is usually oddly poor, wanting for the precision and perspective important to deriving perception from profound trauma.

Take Care of Maya
Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 43 minutes. Watch on Netflix.