After Innocence
New Yorker Films | Release Date: October 21, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
74
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews
Positive:
17
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Portland OregonianMarc Mohan
Powerfully explores the struggles faced by those whom DNA testing has exonerated after years behind bars. Read full review
90
Village VoiceJennifer Gonnerman
Both riveting and disturbing. Read full review
80
Film ThreatJeremy Mathews
Jessica Sanders has observed a collection of lives dramatically altered by a flawed legal system. Read full review
80
VarietyScott Foundas
A powerfully affecting documentary. Read full review
80
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Calm, deliberate and devastating, Jessica Sanders's documentary After Innocence confirms many of the worst fears about weaknesses in the American criminal-justice system. Read full review
80
Washington PostStephen Hunter
The moral purity of After Innocence is so overwhelming that it simply leaves you with nothing to say or do. It's kind of beyond criticism. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
What emerges from these stories is a picture of the fallibility of the system and the vulnerability of innocent citizens, whom even scientific evidence cannot protect from incompetence, ego and prejudice, and of the courage of the exonerated victims to make meaning of their tragedies. Read full review
80
Dallas ObserverMelissa Levine
One of the powerful things about After Innocence is that, no matter what your position on punitive justice, you can't argue with the film's position. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarrit Ingman
There's also a little something smarmy about the interactions between the lawyers and their clients, all of whom are poor. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
In her clear and compelling film, Sanders lets the innocents do the talking. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
Gut-wrenching. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy Burr
After Innocence isn't bravura filmmaking, and it doesn't have to be -- this is one of those documentaries where the subject is compelling enough to do the legwork. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerBill White
The embittered men make fascinating subjects. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterSheri Linden
Puts a human face on the failings of the American judicial system and the growing importance of DNA in legal proceedings. Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
Rousing, quietly outraged documentary. Read full review
63
New York PostKyle Smith
Exploring the lives of several wrongly convicted men exonerated by DNA evidence, the documentary After Innocence makes a reasonable case that compensation is due them. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Though Jessica Sanders' rambling documentary about the damaged lives of wrongfully imprisoned men would have made a better subject for an hour-long "Dateline" special, it's still a powerful indictment of a judicial system too anxious to close cases, and then close ranks when someone tries to reopen them. Read full review
60
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
Taylor does her cause no real favors by trotting out only the most articulate, most clearly railroaded exonerees. It should be just as chilling to learn that even the shady get screwed. Read full review
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