The two documentaries everyone is talking about
2019 was a bit of the year of the rise of documentaries. Yes, documentaries have been around for a long time, of course, but I feel like they only gained a bit of popularity this year. True crime docs, food docs, nature docs, and so on. I dare say they all have the same effect: to shock. Understandably, because then people start talking about it. So after Cowspiracy and Game Changers everyone to the vegan meals because hello, didn't you see how bad the industry is and how good vegan is for you? Kidnapped kids, bizarre scary serial killers... I believe quite a few hours of sleep have been lost since Abducted In Plain Sight, Making A Murderer and The Devil Next Door. Well, drumroll please, because I have two more for you. Maybe you've heard of them, because everyone is talking about these two docs. Rightly so. You want to see them.
Who Killed Little Gregory?
This documentary tells the story of Grégory Villemin, who was killed at the age of four in 1984. The police immediately assumed it was someone from or close to the family, as the family had been plagued by vague phone calls for some time and it was clear that this person knew a lot about the family. I'll tell you in advance: the murderer was never found. One suspect was killed by Grégory's father, and the mother also has a tough time. Super frustrating. It's a doc that is hard to shake off.
Bikram: yogi, guru, predator.
The first thing I learned from this doc is that Bikram yoga is named after a person. In case you don't know this form of yoga: it's a yoga class in a heated room. This doc stirred up so much in the yoga scene that yoga schools now want to change the name (and have changed it: on my OneFit I now mostly see Hot Yoga or Yoga Warm). Bikram Choudhury was sued in 2014 by multiple women for assault and rape. The doc further follows ‘students’ who studied under Bikram, so you also see how bizarre his way of ‘teaching’ was. Extra bizarre is that Bikram fled from America (he had to pay over six million dollars in damages), but still teaches in Spain and Mexico. In fact, he is giving a course in India next year. Can someone please lock this man up, asap?
