Rewind

Sasha Joseph Neulinger's harrowing yet astonishingly composed autobiographical documentary uncovers the childhood sexual abuse he and his sister suffered at the hands of three members of their extended family. Sasha Joseph Neulinger interviews his parents, psychiatrists and the police to fill in his memory gaps and build a disturbingly precise picture, conveying both the cyclical nature of such secret horrors and the difficulty in prosecuting cases that involve children. Rewind (2019)'s grimly absorbing investigation gains an additional texture through the vast home video archive shot by Sasha Joseph Neulinger's TV director father Henry, forever hiding his own traumas behind an omnipresent camcorder. Seemingly superficial clips become sinister clues in a film that is obviously upsetting, but also cathartic and constructive. It's a testament to the bravery and skill of its remarkable young director.