Medicine Man: The Stan Brock Story 
Directed by Paul Michael Angell 
★★★★ 

 
 FROM Amazonian cowboy and giant snake wrestler to US TV and film star and, more importantly, the provider of free healthcare to those in need, this inspirational documentary chronicles the life and legacy of British-born Stan Brock. 
 
Ten years in the making and offering unprecedented access to Brock and his life’s work — principally the creation of Remote Area Medical (RAM) — writer-director Paul Michael Angell’s intimate and captivating debut film shows the difference one person can make. 
 
Brock, who took a vow of poverty, dedicated his life to setting up RAM pop-up clinics in the US delivering free quality dental, vision and medical services for free to people who did not have access to or could not afford a doctor. RAM, founded in 1985, has treated almost a million individuals providing over $200 million worth of treatment. The images of thousands queuing up overnight for these services is heartbreaking, and more so when some learn they have cancer. 
 
You share Brock’s anger and frustration at not being able to bring medics and dentists from other states to his clinics because they are not allowed to cross state lines by law to provide free care. “This is insane,” states Brock.
 
The documentary outlines the stark realities of healthcare inequality in America and is a cautionary tale to those in the UK wanting to privatise the NHS or replace it with a universal private healthcare system. It demonstrates that access to healthcare is fundamentally a human rights issue and shouldn’t be treated as a political football. 
 
Brock was an unbelievable humanitarian who changed laws and sacrificed everything in his power to make a difference, and this is a fitting tribute to the ex-cowboy from Preston. 

In select cinemas and on streaming platforms October 4

Children of the Cult (15)
Directed by Maroesja Perizonius & Alice McShane
★★★★ 

 
 20 years after her debut documentary, Child of the Commune, Dutch filmmaker Maroesja Perizonius returns with an in-depth investigation into the Rajneesh cult movement which lifts the lid on how children were sexually abused and mistreated within the communes, including in Britain, in the 1970s and ’80s. 
 
Perizonius, a former victim herself, speaks to a number of fellow survivors who talk candidly about their harrowing experiences. She also unmasks and confronts perpetrators, and grills some of the closest members of the cult’s inner circle, demanding answers. Their response will leave you shaken and incandescent.
 
The result is a powerful and thought-provoking film which proves very difficult viewing. Particularly the testimonies from ex-victims who reveal how they were raped from the age of 12, while others were seven or eight. The film states how girls were fitted with diaphragms as soon as they reached puberty. 
 
Binu divulges how she kept a list of all the men she slept with. Around 150 over four years from 12 to 16 years old.  
 
The denial from the perpetrators and top-ranking cult members is sick-inducing. 
 
What is galling is that while the cult is still flourishing today no-one has been held to account for the harm they caused to children. 

In cinemas October 4