... that being the head trauma that Muybridge sustained in a stagecoach accident in Arkansas in 1860 being the catalyst for so much weirdness in his life from that point on. The driver and several passengers were killed, and those not killed were badly injured, with Muybridge being thrown from the stagecoach and landing with his head striking a rock. His injuries required a long convalescence, and afterwards his personality changed completely. He went from being a mild mannered bookseller to a photographer who liked to take risks.
It has been speculated that Muybridge suffered substantial injuries that extended into the anterior temporal lobes, which may have led to some of the emotional outbursts and eccentric behavior reported by friends in later years, as well as freeing his creativity from conventional social inhibitions. The accident is mentioned in the documentary, but not much is done to connect his risky behavior or the premeditated murder he later commits to this head injury.
Overall, the documentary goes into detail as to Muybridge's photographs and his later motion studies, but fails to explain some personal issues that are brought up but not explored in depth. For example, Muybridge finds out about his wife's infidelity by talking to the midwife who delivered their baby at the midwife's house. The woman reveals all kinds of details that would be sure to enrage Muybridge, so much that he kills the man implicated. But why was Muybridge there talking to the midwife in the first place? Why would she want to anger this guy with the details that she supplies? What would be her motivation? It is never mentioned.
Once Muybridge is acquitted it is then mentioned that his (maybe) child is deposited in an orphanage after his wife dies, knowing what kind of institutions those were in the 1870s, without a backwards glance. Again, the reasons behind this rather cold blooded act are not examined at all.
I'd say this is a very comprehensive work on Muybridge, especially regarding his work in photography and in helping birth the motion picture industry with his motion studies, but the personal picture of the man is incomplete.