Netflix has a new documentary, which I’m sure is a shock to you. What is a shock to me is that while I agree with the sentimentality behind the film, I just don’t think the movie actually functions well as a non fiction work.

The Plastic Detox is designed to feature six couples struggling with infertility who detox from plastic, and get the negative side effects out of their system. The problem is, it isn’t just that. The other half of the film is a four alarm documentary on the various dangers and health concerns regarding plastic, how our world relies on it, how it is used, and basically everything you’d find in a world on fire documentary about how plastic is killing us. I’m on board. I get it. I agree. I’m a big proponent of bringing who I am, my various biases, all that into a review, rather than hide it, because it just ignores how I might not have liked the film because I believe in junk science. That’s not true.

The film really does have a problem balancing what is essentially two different films, one about the dangers of plastic, and the other being the detox, focusing on these couples, their stories, what they all do, the evolution of time, the results, and preferably even a control group. It lacks that. It feels like we jump a lot of that, in favor of the other stuff, like Netflix refused to make two different films, so they just shoved two like minded features together, hoping no one would notice. But the thing you come for, the actual detox, ends up being the B-plot of the documentary, which feels more like an Inconvenient Truth style warning.

The audio description probably could have done more with who is talking when, as this is a lot of talking heads, but for this type of feature, it was more than adequate. The Plastic Detox just didn’t actually do what it set out to do, and tries to bamboozle you into believing it did by showing you a beginning and an end. My score range is 6 and above runs Fresh, and below runs Rotten. Because my heart is with the messaging, I’m inching it to the highest possible Rotten score, but truthfully, the actual art of filmmaking here is lost.

The Plastic Detox leaves you unsatisfied with the results, wanting to relapse if only for a better supported look at an alternative living choice.

Rotten: 5.9/10