‘Marwencol’: Watch The Documentary About The ‘Welcome To Marwen’ Real Story

The numbers are in and people are not into serious Steve Carell playing with action figurines. Welcome to Marwen, the actor’s latest venture into the world of more serious projects, is officially a box office bomb losing a reported $50 million at the box office during its opening weekend. But do you know what didn’t get terrible reviews, is engaging, and most importantly is free for you to stream right now? The documentary Welcome to Marwen is based off of, Marwencol.

The debut film of director Jeff Malmberg, Marwencol serves as a shocking and jarringly intimate look into one man’s personal therapy. In April of 2000 artist and photographer Mark Hogancamp was violently attacked by five men outside of a bar after he told them he was a cross-dresser. The attack left him in a coma for nine days and confined him to the hospital for almost a month and a half. Unable to afford therapy, Hogancamp found an untraditional way to sort through his trauma, creating a World War II-era Belgian town populated by action figures. That village 1/6 the size of the real world became known as Marwencol.

The documentary explores Hogancamp’s inner life through this recreation of reality, documenting the various heroic stories he’s imagined for himself using this world. It’s a surprisingly delicate and heartfelt take on a therapeutic system that’s outside of societal expectations. It’s also one that’s been praised far more than Robert Zemeckis’ latest film.

At the moment Welcome to Marwen has an embarrassing 26 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. That’s not just bad; that’s worse than Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween bad. Conversely the documentary this stop motion drama is based on received a 98 percent when it was first released. Not only that but Marwencol won awards from the Independent Spirit Awards, South by Southwest, Comic-Con, and Rotten Tomatoes itself. And on top of all that glowing praise from people literally paid to evaluate films, the documentary is streaming for free on the library-connected streaming service Kanopy and on Fandor and Sundance Now. All you need to do is create an account and connect Kanopy to your library card.

Look if you absolutely must pay at least $10 of your hard-earned dollars to see sad Steve Carell, we won’t stop you. But if you’re looking for an insightful examination about how art and play helped one man’s consciousness, you have a better and more cost-effective option.

Where to stream Marwencol