Malcom is Missing: Riveting Doc Follows a Canadian Who Unravels Her Father's Murder in Mexico
By Jim Slotek
Rating: B-plus
There are documentaries that are practically feature thrillers already. Just connect the same dots with a script, and the doc Malcom is Missing could be a star vehicle – though one hard-pressed to match reality.
The film, from Robert and Jari Osborne, tells the tale of one Canadian daughter’s search for her eccentric father, whose misadventures in Mexico led to his sketchy disappearance.
Brooke Mullins in better days with her dad Malcom Madsen.
The subject of the film is 68-year-old Malcom Madsen, whose relationship with a younger local woman in Puerto Vallarta clearly led to his death. But the movie is propelled by Madsen’s daughter, Brooke Mullins, who began playing detective from her home in Port Hope, Ontario, 4,400 km away.
Her refusal to accept prosaic explanations for her father’s disappearance – from the police and from the girlfriend – led her to discover the hard realities of Mexico. Everything is for sale. The police won’t investigate anything unless you pay them. Mullins was even persuaded at one point to pay for what was purported to be some of her father’s remains.
It’s a resonant tale, especially for elderly Canadians. The downside notwithstanding, Mexico is attractive for retirees. The town of San Miguel de Allende alone is home to a reported 5,000 Canadians.
But it’s also a country where 95% of violent crimes are never solved, and at least 100,000 “go missing” annually. In Mullins’ travels, she attracts allies, local activists, lawyers and journalists who give her the hard facts and help her put together a rather obvious string of events that are nonetheless offhandedly rejected by police. This despite a scrupulous record of incriminating texts, videos and GPS records.
On the homefront, we see the toll the investigation takes on Mullins’ family life, and we learn about Malcom’s man-child past, one that led him early on to leave his family to see the world. The remnants of his past include a “curiosity shop” of miniatures that he’d kept and cared for. He seemed like a soul too trusting to find himself in the company he kept.
Malcom is Missing is set to screen on CBC and CBC Gem in the spring. However, the film will have a one-night debut at the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema on Sunday, January 29 at 7 p.m. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Robert Osborne, producer Jari Osborne, Brooke Mullins and Toronto Star crime reporter Kenyon Wallace.