Marti, for one, asked himself why he didn't question why Castro -- who, he thought, lived alone -- would return each day with bags of McDonald's food, or who would watch the little girl he occasionally took outside.

CNN: Ropes, chains found in home where women held captive

The documentary offers a healthy, stimulating view of political opinion, but its most affecting elements are the small moments that Demme captures a frail Carter, in the company of Secret Service agents, carrying his own bags into a hotel, or a short conversation that Carter has with a little girl whose name reminds him of his favorite poet.

NEWYORKER: Jimmy Carter Man From Plains

One of the youngest in Heller's study, a 15-year-old girl who was married off to her uncle at age 8, spent eight months selling bags of candied peanuts in order to raise enough money to pay for a taxi so she could get to a fistula center.

CNN: A fate worse than death for scores of African women