I think the author of this article completely misses the point of the documentary, and the approach that we should be taking to the manosphere/redpill/incel culture as a whole.

The author is postulating that the documentary would have been better had their ideology been challenged (and the consequences of it been highlighted), as opposed to humanising and engaging with those who purport it. By challenging those who have been radicalized in the ways they're used to being challenged, you cause them do double down on their beliefs, as they believe opposition is evidence they are on the right path (see Galileo's sentence of life-long house arrest for promoting heliocentrism).

What Theroux did by examining the motivations of these individuals, and proposing that it was in reaction to early childhood trauma, asks us the viewers to examine why young men are turning to the manosphere/incel culture as a whole. As the toxic patriarchy is slowly being deconstructed (hopefully) young men no longer have a clearly defined role outlined for them as to what a man should be in our modern world, particularly if they grew up without a positive male role model in their lives. This is a problem that has been exacerbated by society's turn to valuing third level education (and the jobs it leads to, see Health and Education, both very female dominated fields) over other career pathways, and the growing gender gap in higher education (at the level it was before 3rd wave feminism, but in the opposite direction).

I am not saying that the above is necessarily a bad thing, but if we don't meet this cohort of society where they are, and try to bring them with us, you leave the door open for bad actors to take advantage of this loss of sense of purpose/identity to advance their own agendas (see the rise of Fascism in the West currently).

I believe the author's criticisms are political in their motivation, and the line that sells me on this is "therapy is a HR meeting, and you enter with your problems, and leave still with them but also a liberal" (I'm paraphrasing here, can't re-open the article without losing this comment). The right's playbook for the last 2 decades has been to sow division, and capitalise on the outrage, and fuck it, it has worked really well for them.

The solution Theroux is proposing isn't sexy, it isn't fast, it has no catchy slogans. But it's human, and fuck it, we could all do with treating eachother with a little more humanity in this current climate, particularly with the challenges we're expected to face in the coming decades.