April 7, 2019 (2019-04-07) (Full Frame Film Festival)[1]
June 14, 2019 (2019-06-14)
Running time
39 minutes
Countries
Sweden, United States
Language
English
Life Overtakes Me (Swedish: De apatiska barnen; English: The Apathetic Children) is a 2019 Swedish-American documentary film directed by Kristine Samuelson and John Haptas. The film shows how hundreds of refugee children in Sweden withdraw into a coma-like illness called resignation syndrome, apparently because of traumatic experiences they have had.[2][3][4]
The film was released on Netflix on June 14, 2019.[5] As of October 2021[update], 100% of the five critical reviews compiled on Rotten Tomatoes are positive, with an average rating of 7.7/10.[6]
According to witnesses cited by the Swedish magazine Filter, one of the children profiled in the film was pressured by her parents to simulate resignation syndrome for the express purpose of improving the family's prospects for permanent residence status in Sweden. The witnesses insisted that the girl had been a well-functioning, normal child who was coached into faking her illness when doctors and officials were present.[8]
Sweden's public television network, SVT, interviewed Swedish pediatrician Karl Sallin, who said that the filmmakers had cherry-picked phrases from interviews with him in a "reckless and dangerous" fashion, distorting his view of the situation. SVT sought the producers repeatedly for comment, who chose not to respond.[9]
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