Yahoo News 'Unsettling' new Netflix documentary leaves viewers feeling 'physically sick to their stomach'
A documentary exploring the controversial relationship between a white university professor and the non-verbal black man she was assisting has left viewers feeling 'haunted'.
Married Anna Stubblefield claims she had a consensual sexual relationship with Derrick Johnson, who is diagnosed as 'severely cognitively impaired' and has cerebral palsy. The former Rutgers University academic, who spent two years helping Derrick to communicate, was convicted of sexual assault in 2015.
Tell Them You Love Me examines the criminal trial, challenging perceptions of disability and the nature of consent. The film released in February on Sky Documentaries in the UK, but only recently dropped on Netflix in the US. Documentary genius Louis Theroux serves as executive producer, while Nick August-Perna directs.
A respected academic based in New Jersey, USA, Anna was first approached by Derrick's brother John for help with his condition. Anna claimed she could help Derrick express himself via facilitated communication - a widely-discredited method which involves someone physically supporting a person with disabilities as they type on a keyboard or point to letters and pictures.
With Anna's help, Derrick soon learned to use a keyboard with an LED screen to type and even began taking a university class. Two years on, Anna had more to reveal: not only was Derrick a highly intelligent man, but they had also fallen in love.
Derrick's mother, Daisy Johnson, said her son didn’t have the capacity to engage in physical or emotional intimacy, and the extent to which he used a keyboard to communicate with her wouldn’t have been possible unless Anna was manipulating his hands.
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, viewers were shaken up by the story. @itsalyssahall said: "As someone who works with people with developmental disabilities..Tell Them You Love Me on Netflix made me absolutely sick to my stomach..."
@talialeacock wrote:" Tell Them You Love Me might be one of the most unsettling documentaries I’ve ever watched on Netflix... Insane" as @Berher22 said: "It’s been 24 hours since I watched it and I feel … haunted. By the end of the documentary I felt physically sick to my stomach."
The rest of the article contains spoilers for Tell Them You Love Me.
Anna was found guilty on two counts of first degree aggravated sexual assault and sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2015. Two years later, the former professor’s appeal was granted and her conviction revoked, on a technicality: In her initial trial, the court had dismissed testimony related to facilitated communication. Anna accepted a plea deal for a lesser charge and was released from prison after serving two years.
Director Nick previously said of the documentary: "It’s a complex film about some very nuanced ideas. For me, it’s about people who became enmeshed in a tragedy together."
Explaining the origins of the documentary, Louis said: "I came to this story originally via a New York Times article, maybe 10 years ago, and I was riveted by it. It sat on the fault lines of so many big social questions — around race, sexuality, and, yes, disability.”
Tell Them You Love Me is available to stream now on Sky Documentaries in the UK and Netflix in the US.
