Series Review: "House of Hammer" (2022).

From Discovery+ and the director of Memoirs of My Nervous Illness comes House of Hammer. This documentary miniseries directed by Elli Hakami and Julian P. Hobbs. A shocking Hollywood scandal rips open the Hammer family's perfect façade. From rape allegations against Armie Hammer to years of deceit at the hands of his great-grandfather, the family's dark secrets finally come to light.

The son of the businessman Michael Armand Hammer and the great-grandson of the oil tycoon Armand Hammer, American actor, Armie Hammer, began his acting career with guest appearances in several television series. Hammer's first leading role was as Billy Graham in the 2008 film Billy: The Early Years, and he gained wider recognition for his portrayal of the twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss in David Fincher's biographical drama film The Social Network (2010), for which he won the Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor. Hammer portrayed Clyde Tolson in the biopic J. Edgar (2011), played the title character in the western The Lone Ranger (2013), and starred as Illya Kuryakin in the action film The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015). In 2017, he starred in Luca Guadagnino's romantic drama Call Me by Your Name, for which he received a nomination for the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor and a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male. The following year, he portrayed Martin D. Ginsburg in the biopic On the Basis of Sex (2018). On Broadway, he starred in a production of Straight White Men in 2018. In 2021, claims of sexual abuse and cannibalistic fetishism were made against Hammer, including allegations of nonconsensual BDSM, rape, and physical and emotional abuse. In March 2021, the Los Angeles Police Department stated that he was the subject of a sexual assault investigation. Hammer denied the allegations, calling them an "online attack". He later abandoned several future projects and was dropped by his acting agency and publicist.

A sharp look at a monster who had access to the most beautiful women in the world and took advantage of his position time and again to control them. Valuable as it is to hear from the victims, I welcome more understanding of the social and psychological factors in our culture that have allowed men to behave badly, some very badly, for far too long. The rise and fall of movie star Armie Hammer has been given a lot of coverage, but this thoughtful, probing and revealing feature-length documentary adds a constructive perspective to the allegations about him. A documentary that, in its best moments, simply lingers on the survivors and sexual abuse and misconduct, leaving in the deafening silent moments that come all too frequently. The film was told mostly by Hammer's victims, and their stories are hair-raising. It is an emotional movie to sit through, but well worth the sit. The documentary poses the doubt that Hammer only fell because of weakness and not true justice and on that note alone, the film and audiences need an epilogue.

Simon says House of Hammer receives: