0:00
/
01:40
Self-described "trans racial" activist Rachel Dolezal ignited an unprecedented media storm when a local news station in Spokane, WA outed her as a white woman who had been living as the black president of the NAACP. Since the controversy erupted, director Laura Brownson and team exclusively filmed with Rachel, her sons and her adopted sister Esther, capturing the intimate, vérité life story of a damaged character who lands squarely in the cross-hairs of race and identity politics in America - and exploring how that character still provokes negative reactions from millions who see her as the ultimate example of white privilege. A Netflix original documentary, The Rachel Divide, is executive produced by Academy Award winner Roger Ross Williams.
Rating
NR
Director
Laura Brownson
Studio
Netflix
Writer
Laura Brownson, Jeff Seymann Gilbert
  • There is a tremendously intriguing subject for debate in the middle of this - the possibility of transracial identity, which has already raised a lot of controversy - but the film remains mostly on the surface and never goes deep enough into the complexity of what this could mean.
    Reply
  • The Rachel Divide was an enthralling documentary that managed to show the struggles and hardships of a person who I was determined to dislike. In the end I felt sympathy for Rachel. I don't agree with what she's doing, but I don't think she is trying to mislead or lie to anyone. I think she needs help, but that she does really see her life that way.
    Reply
  • Great execution along with focus that lets you see the vulnerable, understandable side of a controversial and complex woman still makes it difficult not to wonder why the documentary exists.
    Reply
  • Great documentary, beautifully done. I love when I watch something that really makes me examine my own thoughts and views and ultimately opens up my heart and mind. I love profiles on people who are different and unique and offer an understanding of why they are the way they are. It's definitely a controversial topic about a controversial woman but it is ultimately a very human story about the human experience, social constructs, freedom and rejection. Why someone would go to great lengths create a new identity for herself and why so many people refuse to accept it. The documentary did a good job at presenting all points of views. Very fascinating.
    Reply
  • I understand Rachel's choice to have wanted to separate her personal life from the public life and hide it as much as she could. But if she showed it more, maybe the public wouldn't have had been as outrageously judgmental as it had been towards her. Because what I learned from watching this documentary is that she wasn't motivated by career related benefits in making the "choices" she made, She was motivated by love. It started with her love for her siblings, and then her sons and then the whole black community. I feel that she is terribly misunderstood. And I feel very sorry for her. Nietzche said once, "LOVE is beyond good and evil." What I like the most about her is that she doesn't victimize herself. She could easily scream, "because people thought I was black - I also received hate crime!," "my adopted brother is the reason why I made the decision I made!' but she doesn't. For me, it was devastating to watch this documentary film. Rachel, if you are reading this.. you have my support.
    Reply
  • Interesting prospective on Rachel's life. DIrector laura Brownson does a good job of allowing the viewer to make their own decision on rachel's views.
    Reply
  • Hard to capture the level of mental illness of this woman but it's very clear she's passionate about black culture.
    Reply
  • The Rachel Divide works hard to give an insider's view of a story that for some is the case of a woman suffering from a serious sense of cultural displacement and for others is an ongoing attempt to redefine notions of race and what that term... means.
    Reply
  • Docu about controversial "trans-racial" woman; cursing.
    Reply
  • Like everything about Rachel Dolezal, it's complicated, but this film-whether or not it should have ever been made-helps untangle both the motivation for-and the impact of-Rachel Dolezal's strange choices.
    Reply
  • Consciousness raising, eye-opening, mind-changing
    Reply
  • "The Rachel Divide" becomes a disturbing and enthralling drama of the American family, the pain of its truths and its fictions.
    Reply
  • The Rachel Divide doesn't have an answer for whether what Dolezal did was misguided or poisonous. However, the film does shed light on the sea of outrage and humiliation this scandal has caused.
    Reply
  • Its title is a bit too clever, but The Rachel Divide takes a largely serious, respectful and dignified approach toward a subject many would say is undeserving.
    Reply
  • The most riveting section of the film is its conclusion, when [Laura] Brownson openly questions [Rachel] Dolezal and pushes her to answer some uncomfortable questions.
    Reply