This relentlessly spare documentary confines itself to the testimony of how two boys were groomed

Another day, another slew of allegations, and another reckoning with the private behaviour and public legacy of a feted man previously considered untouchable.

In the wake of #MeToo, and the growing utterance of previously unspeakable truths, the mighty are falling fast.

Now it’s Michael Jackson’s turn to come under scrutiny. The two-part, four-hour exposé Leaving Neverland was built round the testimony of adults – Wade Robson and James Safechuck – who allege that they were abused as children by a man they worshipped. Like the participants in the recent documentary Surviving R Kelly, they have met with hostile incredulity from diehard fans who claim they are lying in the pursuit of compensation payouts. For non-diehard fans, it is hard to watch either documentary and not feel that it would be easier to make a buck in almost any other way imaginable.

Robson was an Australian dance prodigy and superfan who first met Jackson when he won a dance competition at the age of five. He says the abuse began two years later, after Jackson befriended the family to such an extent that his mother moved half the family to Los Angeles. To the boy, it was like having a magical best friend. After they’d finished playing with toys and watching movies in bed, what could be more natural than doing whatever his friend wanted, to demonstrate the special love they shared?

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Leaving Neverland’s director Dan Reed (centre), with Wade Robson and James Safechuck. Photograph: Taylor Jewell/Invision/AP

Safechuck wasn’t a Jackson superfan, but he and his family became devotees when he was cast in Jackson’s 1987 Pepsi commercial. Like the Robsons, they found themselves swept up and seduced by the star’s kindness, generosity, charm and glamour. Safechuck says his abuse started when he was 10. His hand shakes when he pulls out the box full of jewellery Jackson would give him “in exchange”, including the ring that was used in the mock wedding he says Jackson had them take part in. It barely fits over his fingertip now.

Play Video 2:55 What we know about Michael Jackson's history of sexual abuse allegations – video

Both men describe their experiences at Neverland – in private rooms behind several closed doors rigged with a warning system of bells – in similar and similarly harrowing detail: that Jackson told them they would go to prison if anyone found out, and that parents, and especially women, were evil. Their accounts of what they were required to do, of the psychological processes at work (in the second part of the documentary especially, when Robson talks through his inability to tell the truth during the Jordan Chandler investigation or at Jackson’s 2005 trial) and of their mental unravellings since, are so finely grained it is difficult to believe they are confected.

Play Video 0:41 Watch the trailer for Leaving Neverland: Michael Jackson and Me – video

Journalistic and legal standards require neutrality be observed, but as a viewer it’s hard to escape the conclusion that the star – who openly admitted he slept with boys in his bed, and was trailed by accusations of child molestation for the last 15 years of his life – did exactly what these men say he did.

Timeline Michael Jackson child sexual abuse claims Show Hide LAPD investigation After Jordan Chandler makes allegations during a police interview that Jackson has abused him, an investigation begins. Jackson had met the 12-year-old boy the previous year. Barnes and Robson press conference Teenagers Brett Barnes and Wade Robson hold a press conference stating that they had shared a bed with Jackson on multiple occasions, but that nothing sexual had happened. Chandlers sue Jackson A lawsuit from the Chandler family alleges sexual abuse by Jackson and seeks $30m. Jackson video statement Jackson describes being strip-searched and photographed by the LAPD two days earlier as “the most humiliating ordeal of my life”. He states: "I am not guilty of these allegations, but if I am guilty of anything it is of giving all that I have to give to help children all over the world.” Jackson settles lawsuit Jackson settles out of court with the Chandlers for $22m – $15m goes to Jordan Chandler to be held in a trust fund until he turns 18. LAPD investigation fails After two grand juries fail to indict, and Jordan Chandler tells authorities he will not testify in court, the Los Angeles and Santa Barbara district attorneys end their investigation. Scream released The lead single from Jackson’s album HIStory is released. A duet with his sister Janet, the song angrily addresses media coverage of the child sexual abuse allegations against him.

Bashir documentary Jackson discusses regularly having sleepovers with children, including a young cancer patient named Gavin Arvizo, in Living with Michael Jackson – a documentary fronted by the British journalist Martin Bashir. "It's not sexual," said Jackson on-screen. "We’re going to sleep. I tuck them in. It's very charming." The film rekindles police investigations. Police raid and arrest Jackson's Neverland estate is again searched by police, and a week later Jackson is arrested. Jackson charged Michael Jackson is formally charged with committing lewd and lascivious acts with a child under the age of 14. Trial begins During Jackson's trial, Arvizo and his younger brother testify that the singer showed them pornography and made them drink "Jesus juice" – wine. Both say Jackson masturbated in front of them and molested Arvizo on multiple occasions. Blanca Francia, one of Jackson's former housekeepers, testifies she saw Jackson showering with Wade Robson. Witnesses for the defence, including Macaulay Culkin and Robson, say that Jackson never molested them. Not guilty verdict The jury finds Jackson not guilty on all 14 charges brought against him. Jackson dies In the run-up to This Is It, a planned residency at London's O2 Arena, Jackson dies age 50 of a cardiac arrest. Wade Robson sues Wade Robson takes legal action against the Jackson estate, alleging that Michael Jackson molested him over a seven-year period between the ages of seven and 14. James Safechuck sues Safechuck alleges Jackson abused him on more than 100 occasions after the pair met when Safechuck appeared in a Pepsi commercial alongside the singer. Leaving Neverland Dan Reed's four-hour documentary Leaving Neverland opens at the Sundance film festival. In it Wade Robson and James Safechuck discuss at length the abuse they claim they suffered at Jackson's hands. It is described as "a public lynching" by Jackson's surviving family. Television screenings Leaving Neverland is shown on the HBO network in the US, with a UK screening on Channel 4 on 6 and 7 March. The Jackson estate sue HBO for $100m, claiming the network is in breach of a non-disparagement clause in a 1992 contract. Radio ban Radio stations around the world, including in New Zealand and Canada, begin to pull Jackson's music from the airwaves.

Whatever the truth, as a documentary it is an astonishing piece of work. Relentlessly spare and unsensationalist, it manages better than any other in its genre not to let its attention wander from the survivors’ testimony. Footage of Jackson is confined almost wholly to that of him with the boys themselves on stage, private calls between them and family snaps.

The Michael Jackson accusers: ‘The abuse didn't feel strange because he was like a god’ Read more

He is never allowed to overwhelm the story. And the story the men tell is one familiar to anyone with any experience, direct or indirect, of child abuse; only the scale is different. Grooming comes with a gift of the Thriller jacket and entire theme parks booked for you, rather than bags of sweets or a longed-for toy. You are made to feel special by being played unreleased music by your hero, rather than being allowed to stay up late. But at its heart it is the same. And the heart is black and through its veins runs poison.

Let us hope Leaving Neverland, and the changing times that have created space for it, are part of a deep and lasting purge.