Sky orders “morally complex” doc from Louis Theroux’s Mindhouse

Tell Them You Love Me

European pay-TV giant Sky has ordered Tell Them You Love Me, a documentary feature about the affair between a married female professor and a non-verbal man with cerebral palsy.

Produced by Louis Theroux’s production company, Mindhouse, the film will launch on Sky Documentaries and streaming service NOW in November 2023. It is co-produced with Topic streaming service, and will be distributed by Kino Lorber in North America.

NBCUniversal Global Distribution will handle international sales excluding North America on behalf of Sky Studios.

Directed by Nick August-Perna, explores the controversial affair between Anna Stubblefield, a respected academic and a disability rights advocate and 30-year-old Derrick Johnson, who has never spoken a word in his life, and requires 24/7 care and support.

During his early childhood, Johnson’s family were told by medical professionals that, in addition to his physical disabilities, he was severely cognitively impaired. But Stubblefield disagreed with this diagnosis, and when she first tells Johnson’s family that she can help him communicate with the outside world, they are thrilled.

However, after almost two years of work, Stubblefield claims not only to have “unlocked” Johnson’s mind but claims that the two of them are in love.

As a result, Johnson’s family begin to question his miraculous transformation, and Stubblefield’s intentions – leading to one of the most divisive criminal trials in recent times.

“When I started Mindhouse four years ago, this was exactly the kind of morally complex film I’d hoped we might be involved in making. It deals with some of the most sensitive and difficult themes in the culture but does so in a way that is intelligent and forensic and never sensationalist,” said Theroux, executive producer, co-founder and chief creative officer at Mindhouse, who is delivering the MacTaggart Lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival this evening.