‘Allen v. Farrow’: What to Know Before The HBO Series

Before Mia Farrow had ever made a single complaint against Woody Allen, there were stories, memories from family friends and babysitters of Allen seeming too close to Farrow’s daughter Dylan. Next came the custody case from Allen himself. What followed was a never-ending he-said, she-said between two of Hollywood’s favorites. This sexual abuse allegation and the resulting fallout is what Allen v. Farrow, HBO’s latest true crime docuseries, seeks to explore.

Mia Farrow started dating Woody Allen in 1980. She was a talented actor and his gorgeous muse. He was the visionary filmmaker with a trail of neuroses a mile long. It was the sort of relationship that could make Hollywood nod in approval. But it seems it was fraught from the beginning.

Children were always a source of stress in their relationship. When the pair started dating, Farrow already had six children, three biological from her marriage with Andre Previn, three adopted, and she had recently adopted a seventh: Moses Farrow. From the beginning, Allen made it clear that he had no intention of being a father. According to court records, “he remained aloof from Ms. Farrow’s other children except for Moses, to whom he was cordial.” That changed in 1985.

Most of the other children Farrow adopted came from third world countries. Not Dylan Farrow. Mia Farrow specifically looked to adopt a little blonde girl in the hopes that if she could give Allen the child he wanted, so he would become more paternal to her other children. It was a plan that never actually worked. Though Allen finally took a parental interest, all of his focus seemed to be focused exclusively on Dylan.

His behavior toward the child didn’t concern Farrow until 1987 and 1988. According to her testimony and the many interviews she has since given, Farrow described the relationship between father figure and daughter as having a “wooing quality.” Allen would reportedly follow Dylan throughout the house, failing to give her breathing room. He would read to her while in his underwear. He would let her suck on his thumb. It wasn’t uncommon for Allen to sit on the edge of Dylan’s bed, waiting for her to wake up.

There was also Dylan’s behavior to consider. By all accounts, Dylan was an outgoing and happy child. That changed when Allen would come over. She would complain of stomachaches and headaches that would appear when he walked through, the door and disappear when he left. On one of Allen’s visit, she locked herself in the bathroom for four hours. Allen got a babysitter to pick the lock with a coat hanger.

In therapy, Dylan began to leak bits and pieces about what happened when she was alone with Allen. The story she brought up the most had to do with the “attic.” According to Dylan Farrow, she and Allen went to to a crawl space off of Mia’s bedroom closest, a place referred to as the “attic” where the kids would often play. Dylan claimed that was where Allen touched her “private part.” Yet the incident that led to Farrow’s allegations of sexual abuse happened August of 1992. While Allen was visiting, a babysitter witnessed Allen kneeling on the floor, his face in her lap. Dylan was seven at the time. This incident was later brought up during the custody battle with the babysitter giving testimony.

Then there was Soon-Yi Previn. Around the same time Farrow was suspecting Allen of sexually abusing Dylan, he found incriminating photos of another one of her daughters in Allen’s belongings. Those photographs were found in January of 1992, which is when Allen’s relationship with Soon-Yi Previn came to light. Previn was in college during this time.

Once Farrow heard about the lap incident she took Dylan to her pediatrist,  Vadakkekara Kavirajan. That’s when things escalated. By virtue of his profession, Kavirajan had to share any reports of sexual abuse of a child to the authorities. Though Farrow didn’t want to make an official allegation, one was made. That was Allen’s first official allegation of sexual abuse of a minor.

Once Allen got wind of the official allegation, he countered with a custody battle of his own. Allen sued Farrow for sole custody of Dylan, Moses Previn, and their biological child Satchel (now known as Ronan Farrow). It’s through this court case that all of the allegations and disturbing stories about Allen became publicly known. Allen eventually lost the case in June of 1993, though the judge ruled that the allegation of sexual abuse had not been proven.

Shortly after Farrow made an official allegation to authorities, she was supposed to sign an elaborate custody-and-support arrangement with the man at the center of her allegations. The agreement was supposed to give Farrow $6,000 a month for support of Satchel, Dylan, and Moses Farrow. Farrow called her lawyer two days before the deal and told him to suspend the processing of the agreement.

There are other odd details to this case. Perhaps they’re some of the reasons why this particular family saga has haunted Hollywood for decades now. In 1990, around the time Farrow was suspicious of Dylan’s relationship with Allen, she changed her will so that Allen would have sole custody over her minor children, Dylan, Satchel, and Moses. Additionally in 1991, Farrow made an affidavit to the judge regarding Allen’s adoption of her three children. “Mr. Allen is a loving, caring, attentive parent to Dylan and she can only benefit from having him as an adoptive father,” it said.

It’s difficult for those fleeting examples to discredit the stories against Allen. It’s also difficult to ignore the years Mia and Dylan Farrow have spent telling and retelling the media the same story. Yet that’s the mystery Allen v. Farrow will try to unravel over the course of its four episodes.

The first episodes of Allen v. Farrow premieres on HBO NOW and HBO Max Sunday, February 21 at 9/8c p.m. New episodes will premiere Sundays on HBO.

Watch Allen v. Farrow on HBO NOW and HBO Max