Netflix viewers are saying they’ve been left ‘destroyed’ after watching a ‘gut-wrenching’ documentary that has just dropped on the platform.
The streaming site has a ton of emotional and sometimes disturbing documentaries, from The Girl in the Picture to The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel.
But the latest one has become one of Netflix’s most hyped ones yet, as it explores the story of a girl called Maya Kowalski.
The documentary follows the child as she suffers from chronic pain that becomes debilitating.
Her parents, Jack and Beata Kowalski, frantically search for answers to their daughter’s poor health by seeing a number of experts.
Eventually, the girl is diagnosed with CRPS (complex regional pain syndrome) and she is prescribed high doses of ketamine.
However, the drugs fail to work and the child’s parents are forced to travel to Monterrey, Mexico, so the girl can be put in a ketamine coma.
At first, the treatment seems to work but of all a sudden… it doesn’t.
Just one year later, Kowalski is rushed to a hospital in St Petersburg, Florida, and everything takes a nightmarish turn.
The hospital accused Beata – who is a registered nurse – of child abuse, leading to the state taking custody of the 10-year-old.
The mum is indicted of having Munchausen by proxy, which is a mental illness where a caretaker of a child – typically the mother – fakes or causes real symptoms to make it look like their child is ill.
Although a psychological evaluation eventually confirms that Beata does not have the illness, she is still not allowed to see her daughter for three months.
Following the series of troubling events, the mother tragically takes her own life.
The documentary then skips to a 17-year-old Kowalski, her father and her brother, as they seek justice from the legal system.
This reveals audio recordings from the late mum, depositions and interviews with the family.
After watching the emotional documentary, many people have taken to X (formerly known as Twitter) to say it has left them devastated.
One person pens: “Had to be one of the most gut-wrenching documentaries I’ve ever seen. Shame on the hospital, court system, and all those that stood by complicit while this injustice was happening.”
A second says: “Take Care of Maya is one of the most gut-wrenching and infuriating documentaries I’ve seen.
“If a 100-minute experience can shatter you so completely, I can’t even imagine what it must be like to live with the injustice every day.”
Take Care of Maya is now available to stream on Netflix.
