In “Teen Torture, Inc.,” the three-part documentary on Max about abuses children and adolescents have survived at various boarding schools, boot camps and religious programs intended to curb rebellious behavior, a phrase comes up again and again: The troubled teen industry. It’s an .
That’s a chilling reality describing what author Evan Wright calls a “grab bag of all these different programs based on the idea that no matter what it takes, we’re gonna make these kids follow the rules because what they’re doing is so dangerous, it will destroy their lives.” In many cases, the abuse is the treatment. Director Tara Malone talks to a handful of now-adult survivors who recall, in detail, their harrowing experiences.
Alas, the seriousness of their stories is continually undermined by Malone’s stylistic choices, from the use of what appear to be grainy dramatic recreations to a score that seems intended to emulate a horror movie. It’s entirely misjudged and suggests the documentary isn’t a Max (HBO) original, but something made for Discovery’s more sensationalist programming, which also (not incidentally) streams on Max. This blurring might be intentional.
Either way, it detracts from the overall quality of the work. The survivors deserve better than a documentary this shameless and crass. Even so, they tell their stories with clear-headed disgust.
The pain is still very close to the surface. One survivor says she was forcibly injected with Haldol when she re.