Take Care of Maya

"Directed by first-time filmmaker Henry Roosevelt, Take Care of Maya follows the story of young American Maya Kowalski, who was diagnosed as a child with a rare illness that causes excruciating localized pain and drastically reduces her mobility. However, Maya's parents do whatever it takes to cure her and agree to undergo a risky experimental treatment in Mexico. But surprise—Maya quickly starts to improve. Some time later, though, Maya begins to suffer from intense abdominal pain. Is the illness coming back? Along with her parents and younger brother, they go to a local hospital to receive the proper treatment, and is where everything goes wrong. The doctors there claim that the girl has no illness and that everything is caused by her mother, Beata Kowalski. They take away the parents' custody, leave the girl in the hospital, and suspend her medications. Little by little, things deteriorate until reaching a tragic and catastrophic point. Roosevelt, who tells the entire story in a very linear way, exercises moderation in his filmmaking approach: he avoids flashy camera techniques, uses darker photography, and ultimately lets the story speak for itself. He knows, after all, that no kind of visual pyrotechnics is needed to impress. The story itself is an avalanche of emotions, a mix of pain and outrage. Read more in our full review of Take Care of Maya."