If The Only Girl in the Orchestra and now Makayla's Voice: A Letter to the World indicate anything, it's that I might be growing fond of short Netflix documentaries. Without talking heads and a sense of pomposity, these documentaries feel intimate and uplifting. As I mentioned in my review of The Only Girl in the Orchestra, these short films exude a "cozy, home video vibe." In Makayla's Voice: A Letter to the World, Makayla, a teenage girl with autism, uses a letter board to express her thoughts, her feelings. She has a rare condition involving a partially deleted chromosome, which has rendered her nonverbal. Hence, Makayla selects Portia Cue as her voice. Cue, in voiceovers, reads Makayla's thoughts written on paper by Roxy, a woman who acts as a bridge between the listener and Makayla's mind.
There are letters all right, though they are actually addressed to Makayla's father, a music producer, and mother, a boutique shop owner, to express gratitude for their love, warmth, support, patience, and other tender feelings. You can pair this documentary with another Netflix series - The Mothers of Penguins. Makayla's Voice isn't as stressful as that Polish show about a group of parents dealing with their special kids, but both offerings from Netflix reveal how much effort, care, and hard work goes into looking after children who express themselves differently.
Makayla aspires to be an author, and one suspects her stories would contain beautiful prose and meaningful substance. Just listen to her response to a question related to a snake. The interpretation she gives can only come from someone mature, insightful, and creative. After spending time with Makayla, when you, in the end, learn that she wants to learn Russian because it's an odd language, you nod your head in agreement. Her opinion makes sense. Makayla affectionately calls her father "Daddio." She shares her wish to travel to Mexico and admits to feeling jealous of someone she considers "gifted" for being able to do things in a "normal way." The documentary, though, stops itself from being a schmaltzy mess. There are moments when it almost reaches that mawkish point but quickly returns to its mood of optimism. The documentary doesn't want you to feel sorry for Makayla. It wants you to find inspiration from her determination.
Final Score- [7/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times