Marwencol (2010) Review

"I still really miss somebody to talk to, about still the way I feel."

"So you're not in therapy now?"

"Oh, no. No."

The American healthcare system failed Mark Hogancamp, like it has failed so many others. After being brutally attacked, he received the minimum amount of care the government was willing to pay for, and was coldly cut off.

So what then. Hogancamp admits he then created his own form of role-play therapy, his own mental and physical rejuvenation brought to life through a WW2 era model village of dolls and homemade dollhouses in his backyard, a camera, and a commitment to this world he has created.

Is this world-building as helpful as 'real' therapy? Certainly not! But arguably nobody has had a more interesting response to being cruelly cut off from help than Hogancamp. The art that results from this homemade therapy is deeply arresting the whole way through. His tools are simple, the sorts of things available to almost anyone, but the output is obsessively impressive.