Separated (2024)

3 1/2 Stars (out of 4)

Ripped Apart

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Documentary filmmaker Errol Morris's works have tackled some incendiary subjects before, but none have been as urgent as Separated, which will be broadcast at 9 p.m. E.T., December 7 on MSNBC.

Undeniably one of the masters of documentary, easily ranked at the top of the heap alongside Frederick Wiseman and Werner Herzog, Morris not only understands how to make his films cinematic, but he's also a crack interviewer.

In films as varied as A Brief History of Time, The Fog of War, The Unknown Known, and The Pigeon Tunnel, he has leveled his questions as such formidable subjects as Stephen Hawking, Robert S. McNamara, Donald Rumsfeld, and John le Carré.

Employing his special camera, which allows him to address his subjects head-on, his cool-headed queries encouraged these people to talk at length and at leisure, often letting little truths slip out (with the exception of the cagey Rumsfeld, who proved un-crackable).

For the 2008 Standard Operating Procedure, Morris put his skills to work toward a piece of journalism, investigating the torture of prisoners by the U.S. military in the Abu Ghraib prison.

Based on Jacob Soboroff's 2020 book, Separated is a similar film, examining the Trump Administration's policy of separating immigrant children from their parents at the border, through several people involved in the matter.

This time Morris's approach is, understandably, less observant and more pressing.

Some of these people tried to stop it and others did nothing to stop it. Jonathan White and Jallyn Sualog, of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, express a sense of helplessness, as it slowly dawned on them what was happening. Apparently, the practice was put into effect long before it was even official policy.

Meanwhile, their boss, Scott Lloyd, comes across as vacant and twitchy, dumbly trying to avoid Morris's questions.

The real villains, Trump, senior advisor Stephen Miller, attorney general Jeff Sessions, secretary of homeland security Kirstjen Nielsen, and ICE director Thomas Homan are — of course — not here, although there's footage of Trump explaining that the aim was deterrence: once immigrants hear about what we're doing here, they'll stay home.

Morris follows the story of the outwardly vocal White, eventually assigned to the subsequent Reunification project, a nearly impossible task since — astonishingly — no records of parents and children's whereabouts were kept.

As Sualog explains, a two-year-old cannot identify her mommy by name… only "mommy."

Eventually, it is estimated that 4227 children were taken, and more than 1000 are still displaced.

But the film places blame on both sides. There were four Trump-free years in which Congress could have passed legislation intended to prevent separation, but nothing was done.

The film is a powerhouse, but Morris's righteous fury causes him to make some curious choices. Although he regularly employs re-enactment footage to underscore his interviews, the story of a mother and son (played by Gabriela Cartol and Diego Armando), crossing the border and being separated feels oddly overcooked, and a bit like padding.

On the other hand, a conceptual art piece by Tomas van Houtryve, Divided, and images of mothers and children, seen being ripped apart through the slats of an old-time Zoetrope, are more effective.

Morris has always worked with top-tier cinematographers (Robert Richardson) and composers (Philip Glass) to give his films a dramatic heft; while not exactly in that league, Igor Martinovic and Paul Leonard-Morgan, do a fine job in this arena.

Morris clearly wanted Separated to be released and available to the public before the election. It was given a limited theatrical release in October, but when the broadcast date was announced, Morris took to X (formerly Twitter) with this:

"Why is my movie not being shown on NBC prior to the election? It is not a partisan movie. It’s about a policy that was disgusting and should not be allowed to happen again. Make your own inferences."

Now Miller has been named to Trump's new cabinet, as homeland security advisor, and Homan will be "border czar," and it's not unlikely that these atrocities will, indeed, happen again.

White leaves us with the chilling words: "there is nothing to stop them."