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"Audrie & Daisy"
U.S. Documentary Competition
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The documentary "Audrie & Daisy" tackles an uncomfortable subject — teen sexual assault, and online harassment of its victims — with sensitivity, but still wielding a gut-punch. Directors Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk trace two incidents of 14-year-old girls who were sexually assaulted while unconscious from alcohol. Audrie, in a California town, was assaulted and drawn on with markers all over her body, and the photos were distributed online to classmates. Daisy, in a Missouri town, was blackout drunk when a 17-year-old boy assaulted her while his friends took video (which, they claim, was deleted). Audrie, after seeing online gossip destroying her reputation, killed herself. Daisy, whose family received online harassment and vandalism, went through depression and other issues, but has survived to join young women with similar stories. Cohen and Shenk have amazing access, including interviews with Audrie's attackers (a condition of the family's wrongful-death lawsuit) and the sheriff and prosecutors who handled Daisy's case, that illuminate a system that makes victims suffer twice.
— Sean P. Means
"Audrie & Daisy" screens again in the 2016 Sundance Film Festival: Wednesday, 9 p.m., Broadway Centre Cinema 6, Salt Lake City; Friday, 11:30 a.m., Prospector Square Theatre, Park City; Saturday, 2:30 p.m., Holiday Village Cinema 1, Park City.