American Factory

Name: American Factory
Genre: Documentary
Released: August 21, 2019
Duration: 115 min
Rating: 86
Cast: Austin Cole, Cho Tak Wong, Cynthia Harper, Dave Burrows, Jeff Daochuan Liu

2019

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 23 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 49 Ratings

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7.7

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7.7	Your Score
7.7	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 49 Ratings

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American Factory

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Movie Details & Credits

Netflix | Release Date: August 21, 2019 | TV-14

Starring: Austin Cole, Cho Tak Wong, Cynthia Harper, Dave Burrows, Jeff Daochuan Liu, Jill Lamantia, John Crane, John Gauthier, Junming 'Jimmy' Wang, Rob Haerr, Robert Allen, Shawnea Rosser, Sherrod Brown, Wong He

Summary: In post-industrial Ohio, a Chinese billionaire opens a new factory in the husk of an abandoned General Motors plant, hiring two thousand blue-collar Americans. Early days of hope and optimism give way to setbacks as high-tech China clashes with working-class America.

Director: Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar

Genre(s): Documentary

Rating: TV-14

Runtime: 115 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

David Edelstein

Aug 23, 2019

It’s a great, expansive, deeply humanist work, angry but empathetic to its core. It gestures toward the end of the working world we know — and to the rise of the machines. Read full review

100

Ann Hornaday

Aug 21, 2019

Filmed with extraordinary attention to environmental detail and revealing human interactions, American Factory is that rare documentary that’s not only compelling in its content but a profound sensory pleasure. Read full review

Noel Murray

Aug 19, 2019

By telling their stories, entertainingly and persuasively, Bognar and Reichert make the case that they all deserve better. Read full review

Leah Greenblatt

Aug 22, 2019

The movie, which bowed to uniformly rave reviews at Sundance earlier this year, is also — it will probably be noted ad nauseum — the first film collaboration from Barack and Michelle Obama’s new production company Higher Ground. But the heart and soul of American Factory, like all American factories, is never really politics of course; it’s people. Read full review

K. Austin Collins

Aug 30, 2019

The realities documented here would seem to merit judgment from filmmakers so clearly invested in the subject. But the film itself feels noble, gentle. Read full review

David Fear

Aug 20, 2019

American Factory sets out to chart what’s supposed to be a test run for the future of the auto industry and an example of positive international relations. It ends up capturing a cross-cultural car wreck in slow motion. Read full review

Daniel Fienberg

Feb 2, 2019

That nobody becomes a realized character with an emotional arc is just a place American Factory falls a little flat. Read full review

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User Reviews

ValidCritic

Aug 25, 2019

This is a remarkable film! Unlike many of the citizen critics here, I actually saw this movie, and I saw it at Sundance upon its release. It was just released on Netflix so those who claim to have seen it yet were not in Utah last January in a tiny, freezing cold building at the SundanceThis is a remarkable film! Unlike many of the citizen critics here, I actually saw this movie, and I saw it at Sundance upon its release. It was just released on Netflix so those who claim to have seen it yet were not in Utah last January in a tiny, freezing cold building at the Sundance screening room (it was not part of the fancy Park City Festival) are basically lying about what they know about the film. It is a very balanced documentary that draws no conclusions regarding the right or wrong side of the opposing cultures yet highlights the complex nature of trying to blend the two. It is absolutely fascinating. BTW the score was written by a local Mormon, BYU graduate. So those citizen reviewers claiming liberal bias again are showing little knowledge of the actual film.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

Deanomite

Feb 10, 2020

This is a horrifying movie. The American workers dropped 70% pay from their previous job which was 2 years prior. The Chinese call them weak because they work less than 12 hours a day and have more than 1 day off every month. No safety. This is the future, and it looks horrifying. LikeThis is a horrifying movie. The American workers dropped 70% pay from their previous job which was 2 years prior. The Chinese call them weak because they work less than 12 hours a day and have more than 1 day off every month. No safety. This is the future, and it looks horrifying. Like the Borg assimilating. The mass wedding at the company Christmas party was super disturbing.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

DreamAli

Aug 23, 2019

I started watching this documentary without having high expectations, but I was surprised to find it is very well made, with view points from both sides, without telling you what to think.
I just tells you a story about people and their lives and lets you make an opinion.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

Richard552

Aug 11, 2022

It was just released on Netflix so those who claim to have seen it yet were not in Utah last January in a tiny, $1 to buy a Netflix account, Google search: vtvshare

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Schlafrockman

Dec 20, 2020

A bittersweet story of modern globalism and its shifting centers of power. Probably an interesting insight into reasons for the rise of Trumpism.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

JLuis_001

Feb 27, 2020

Watching a documentary like this one is very discouraging when you see how maybe all of us workers are in bubble of stability, especially when now the big companies just want you to work more and more hours, they want you to work faster and and they want you to do this for less pay.
It'sWatching a documentary like this one is very discouraging when you see how maybe all of us workers are in bubble of stability, especially when now the big companies just want you to work more and more hours, they want you to work faster and and they want you to do this for less pay.
It's **** up.

I must say that now after seeing it, I'm surprised it won the Oscar as best documentary.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

JordanLayton

Apr 27, 2020

This Netflix documentary about a Chinese glass company opening a factory in a US town whose main factory shut its doors years ago was fascinating, if not particularly compelling. I have a very hard time believing the Chinese business culture that was portrayed in this movie. When Fuyao (theThis Netflix documentary about a Chinese glass company opening a factory in a US town whose main factory shut its doors years ago was fascinating, if not particularly compelling. I have a very hard time believing the Chinese business culture that was portrayed in this movie. When Fuyao (the Chinese company) was shown training 200 workers how to deal with Americans, the sweeping stereotypes and generalizations these training directors would use seemed ridiculous to me. I would have liked to see a Chinese culture expert of some sort brought in to speak on that and other cultural differences shown in this doc that came off so one-sided. What this doc boils down to is a cultural difference in the way workers perceive employment. Do you live to work? Or work to live? That is the core of this story. Throw in a thread about unionization and a tag at the end about automation, and you probably have a good idea of how this one goes. The story of this factory out of water is incredibly intriguing. My only gripes are with how seemingly one-sided the portrayal of the Chinese is and how the issue of automation is just tagged on in the last 5 minutes.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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