samuelrein

The good: -the parts where prisoners are talking about their own traumas and doing some kind of group therapy -the interviews with (ex)addicts and (ex)homeless people where they talk about their lives in a trauma informed way -some of the talks of Gabor Mate about trauma and how we are living in a society that traumatizes people and fails to help those who are traumatized

The bad: -overall the documentary felt like a big Gabor Mate worshipping session rather than being about trauma which is a shame in my opinion and was even unerving at times. I mean, seeing him surrounded with groups of photogenic women in awe in front of him.... -the parts where you see him doing some kind of express therapy to some people in front of an audience, it made me cringe. I looked like some typical personal development guru doing these big workshop events with a large audience and I can't imagine how this can provide any of the needed intimate and safe space needed to do trauma work. I can't imagine anyone being comfortable talking like that in front of an audience and making sure they talk in a microphone and keep the audience entertained with witty comments while doing trauma work. So if it's not trauma work being done bur a mock session, what is the point of it? Do people benefit by from those type of 'shows' about trauma?

-the part with someone doing some kind of psychedelic therapy session in with Gabor Mate. The substance used is not explained and while i did enjoy seeing how Gabor runs the session, i thought interviewing the patient after the session and how he feels good now also felt oversold. I have done a number of psychedelic therapy sessions and am well aware of how one can feel permanently healed during the afterglow phase but after a few weeks or months a lot of the feeling of being healed can vanish. Nothing wrong with psychdelic therapy, it is a worthy endeavour but i thought it would have been more honest to say how long after the session was the interview with the patient.

-finally and my biggest frustration with this documentary is the feeling someone has turned the whole thing about Gabor Mate into a personality worshipping business and is trying to get as much momentum as possible. Probably to make money ultimately. I might be wrong but it reminded me of how Wim Hof the 'Ice Man' has a son who is running a business to promote and maximize value out of his father's work and public image. Again it's not that bad but it just feels like there something inauthentic about it. I wish the documentary would have been less about Gabor Mate and more about trauma.

This is not your typical hollywood blockbuster aimed at teenagers where fast pace confusing action and overblown special effects make up for a shallow story line. Despite it doesn't look like a super high budget movie, it does a good job at analyzing some trends in our society, possible future outcomes and puts the emphasis on very down to earth human bonds and values.

I really liked how the show brings to life mythology and this dark magical world. The voice of Henry Cavill is a bit to deep almost like the one from Christian Bale in the Batman movies. Also many parts seem rushed, not enough is explained and if you haven't played the video game you are just left wondering what the hell just happened, what did the protagonist intend to do and why. Actually it is hard to put my finger on why exactly but sometimes it just feels like it was designed as a video game rather than a serie. Sure i understand it comes from a video game but still; it has a strange after taste. Action and magic is very cool, great choregaphies and graphic design.