Critic Reviews

Another week, another entrant in Netflix’s unofficially but accurately titled (by me) category of shows “Why Don’t We Just Raze Human Civilisation to the Ground and Start Again, or Hand It Over to the Monkeys and See If They Can Manage Any Better?” .... There is no hope that Netflix or any other streamer will ever run out of content.

This is a gripping, disturbing documentary.

The film-makers try too hard to turn this into a Tinder Swindler-style tale of women exacting revenge, and there is a late twist. But even without that it’s a decent tale that prompts bigger questions about the donor industry. Meijer declined to be interviewed, so we can only guess at his motivations.

While the numbers might not be completely accurate, in terms of appealing to an audience weaned on sensational titles like “The Tinder Swindler” and similar fare, this feels right on target.

It is a strange and fascinating story of a man who was apparently so blinded by self-love he thought he was doing the world a favour.

Because the series is so one-sided and speculative, The Man With 1000 Kids has to be seen with a bit of jaundiced eye. But that doesn’t keep us from being fascinated at the results of what happens when one man feels the need to donate his sperm everywhere he can.

One of those docuseries you watch through splayed fingers.