A two-night, four-hour documentary event, “Leaving Neverland” (8 p.m. Sunday, HBO) offers harrowing first-person accounts from two men, now nearing middle age, who provide detailed claims of how Michael Jackson befriended them when they were young boys, made them feel special and safe and then subjected them to years of sustained abuse.
Although “Neverland” recounts tales and allegations reflected in a thousand tabloid headlines, it takes on a powerful, intimate dimension as these two men, now parents themselves, recall mixed feelings about their “friend” and abuser.
“Neverland” unfolds subjectively and makes no claims at “balance.” The Jackson estate has gone to considerable lengths to repudiate the film.
