Allen v Farrow takes Dylan Farrow's accusation seriously. She deserves no less | Moira Donegan

Some critics say the documentary feels formulaic. It may be because sexual abuse of the type alleged is a deeply formulaic phenomenon, with recognizable patterns

One of the most striking things about Allen v Farrow - the four-part HBO documentary about the child sexual assault allegation made against Woody Allen in 1992, and the civil suits, criminal investigations, and ugly media blitz that followed - is how familiar it all is. In part this is because the events covered are by now three decades old, and have been extensively discussed in the press, most impressively by Maureen Orth in Vanity Fair, and by Dylan Farrow, the daughter Allen allegedly molested when she was seven years old, in the New York Times. But the allegations are also familiar because of how closely Allen's alleged conduct hews to typical patterns of abuse.

Related: 'It was really an investigation': inside HBO's explosive Allen v Farrow documentary