MADDY THE MODEL – ★★★

This documentary should be celebrating Maddy’s mum more than Maddy herself. Maddy, who has Down syndrome, wanted to be a catwalk model, and her mother who is endlessly supportive, did what she could to help realise the dream. You can see that the mum’s expectations are reasonable, and she’s not a stage mum. But it’s a difficult situation that requires a real commitment and juggle. Congrats to Maddy’s mum for the hard work, and to Maddy for pursuing her dreams.

THE LETTER – ★★★

Maybe I’m hitting documentary fatigue. This film about an African community that appears to be suffering from issues around the elderly being accused of witchcraft and then attacked by machetes just felt a little but too surreal. At points it felt like a war of Christian beliefs vs Witchcraft, when both feel like the wrong answer in the face of science.