The most uncomfortable and most discussed documentary of 2023 is now on Netflix

In 2016, New Zealand journalist David Farrier turned a small obsession into a big hit his documentary Tickled, a very surprising take on the supposed sport of professional endurance. What started as a quirky lifestyle article about a few online videos of young, athletic men being tied up and tickled turned into a personal journalistic quest that took Farrier through clippings and stolen identities, lawsuits, blackmail and physical threats, and a series of “Okay, seriously , what the hell?” revelations. It’s a mesmerizing film, partly because the stakes are so small, and yet the anger of the shadowy figure behind it all is so volatile and excessive.

Farrier uses a very similar narrative with his 2023 documentary Mr. Organ, now streaming on Netflix. It starts off in much the same way, with Farrier reporting on a small, quirky story that blows up: in this case, a parking attendant at an antique store in New Zealand who extorts $700 or more from an unwitting trespasser who parks in the store’s lot . After Farrier’s 2016 report on the store became viral news – received so much attention and sparked so much outrage that New Zealand eventually passed a law limiting payouts for parking violations — Farrier began an investigation into Michael Organ, the man responsible.

“Journalist spends years talking to one weird guy” sounds like a bizarre basis for a movie, but Mr. Organ is at the same time fascinating and endlessly surprising Tickled is, and for much the same reasons. Farrier’s investigation leads down rabbit holes that no one could have ever seen coming, starting with Organ’s past as… convicted hunting thief who claims to be a prince. Over the course of the film, he discovers more and more strange details about the man, who gets wind of Farrier’s project and takes some clearly alarming steps that are best discovered as the film unfolds, with revelation after stunning revelation.

But even these revelations (and the big questions they raise) are not the reason Mr. Organ is a film that can be discussed endlessly, a perfect conversation starter for collective viewing. What makes the film such a sickening experience is how close Farrier gets to his subject, and how that affects him. It is a fundamental aspect of journalism that people covering the news should not be part of it, that they should remain distant and objective. But Farrier becomes something of a reluctant friend and sounding board for Organ, who knows he’s filming a documentary and runs hot and cold about it. Sometimes he joins in, sometimes he tries to shut it down, but he always tries to distort the story. “You probably would have been a pretty interesting person to know if you weren’t such an asshole,” he tells Farrier on camera at one point.

Mr. Organ becomes a shockingly uncomfortable experience as Farrier interviews Michael Organ’s former friends and housemates. He is told again and again that the man has some kind of sinister power to worm his way into people’s lives and destroy them. At the same time, Organ seems to be trying to do the same thing with Farrier. At one point, Farrier mutes himself during a long, rambunctious phone call from Organ to talk to the camera about how endlessly boring the man is. At another point, he captures himself on camera crying and breaking down, talking about how trapped he feels because of the project, and how he finds Organ mind-numbing and inescapable.

“I don’t really understand why he turns me on so much,” Farrier tells an unknown party on the phone. “Like, I can spend time with a lot of stupid people, and a lot of people who are boring, but the thing is, I can’t be in the room with him. I’m stuck. It’s a strange situation for me because I’m trapped with him (…) because I have to make a movie, right? So there is no way out.”

That personal dynamic – the sense that Farrier has made himself and his response to his subject part of his story, and that he has abandoned any sense of objectivity in favor of merely expressing his frustration and disgust with the man – is an unusual one direction for a documentary. to take, and it is one that invites much analysis and discussion. Towards the end of the film, Farrier’s apparent dislike of Organ forces him to try increasingly direct tactics to uncover the truth about the man, including some particularly twisty scenes in which he confronts members of Organ’s family, who understandably object to someone appearing on their film post. porch unannounced with a camera, trying to tell them about their con artist relative.

That, and much more Mr. Organ, may distract from Farrier’s sympathies. But they never shift to Organ himself, who – like the gradually revealed subject of Tickled – seems like a monstrous person who is best kept at a distance. Farriers don’t have that luxury. In both films he takes many risks: narrative, in terms of making documentaries with a distinctive personality and approach unlike anyone currently making documentaries, and personal, in terms of angering people whose history shows that them dangerous ways of lashing out.

In both films, Farrier pokes bears so we don’t have to, letting us watch from a safe distance. Neither are entirely comfortable experiences, but they are both fascinating and nauseating, and the kind of films you’ll probably want to pass on to someone else immediately after watching, with a hearty “Okay, you.” to have to watch this – you’re not going to believe where this story is going.”

Mr. Organ is streaming on Netflix. Tickledwhich is also worth checking out, is free to watch with ads enabled FuboPlex, and Vuduand is available for rental at Amazon, Google Playand other digital platforms.