Assassins
Greenwich Entertainment | Release Date: December 11, 2020 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
74
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 14 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
The Associated PressLindsey BahrDec 17, 2020
Although the event and aftermath were widely, exhaustively covered, I don’t think I’m the only one who lost the thread early. This not knowing is part of what makes Ryan White’s extraordinary documentary Assassins, about the trial of the two young women, so compulsively compelling. Read full review
80
The Observer (UK)Simran HansJan 31, 2021
Perhaps wisely, Ryan White’s slick documentary chooses not to mine the bizarre scene for comic potential. Instead, he spins the arrest of Siti Aisyah and Doan Thi Huong – economic migrants from Indonesia and Vietnam respectively – into a parable about political corruption. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawJan 28, 2021
What an extraordinary story of sexism, violence, diplomatic bad faith and dishonesty on an international scale. Read full review
80
CineVueMatthew AndersonJan 28, 2021
American filmmaker Ryan White, director of the acclaimed Netflix mini-series The Keepers, spins a web of riveting, murderous intrigue in his latest documentary Assassins. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterJustin LoweFeb 1, 2020
Ryan White crafts a piercingly observant investigative documentary that methodically pieces together a complex collage of incriminating evidence outlining a carefully orchestrated attempt to conceal the sinister implications behind Kim’s assassination. Read full review
80
VarietyOwen GleibermanFeb 1, 2020
Assassins is a terrific true-crime story, but it’s also a documentary thriller about the new world disorder. Read full review
75
The Film StageEli FriedbergMay 24, 2021
Though not a film as big or bombastic as North Korea’s political gestures, nor one to ruminate on larger questions about the political state of East Asia’s former Third World and the Western observer’s role to bear, White’s picture pokes its head above the masses of drably shot, dryly informational documentaries currently dominating streaming services with both its clear and concise journalism and its deft command of narrative and genre. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comSheila O'MalleyDec 14, 2020
White plays it straight, and deftly untangles the different webs of meaning and implication, political, social and otherwise, to draw us into Siti and Doan's worlds, to understand how the girls were tricked and used as pawns in a deadly North Korean family feud. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreDec 10, 2020
White, who did “Ask Dr. Ruth” and a “Serena” documentary, is very good at getting the blood boiling over the injustices at every turn, the feigned outrage of North Koreans trying to bully their way out of blame and Malaysians who let the world know that they know who was involved and how, and just what they were willing to do about it. Read full review
75
IndieWireDavid EhrlichFeb 1, 2020
The story is so outlandish — and the film so dry — that it’s hard not to be impressed by the discipline White showed in refusing to have more fun with it. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesNoel MurrayDec 16, 2020
While Assassins may be somewhat unsatisfying as a true-crime story, it’s provocative as an examination of power. Read full review
60
The Irish TimesTara BradyJan 29, 2021
It’s a fascinating news story, but the film’s additional, if entertaining speculations remain just that. Read full review
60
The New York TimesBen KenigsbergDec 10, 2020
Its main virtues are a wild story and a stealth sense of outrage. It argues that these so-called assassins became political pawns and had to face the courts without witnesses who might have aided their defense. Read full review
60
Film ThreatNorman GidneyFeb 1, 2020
While informative, I never leaned forward and engaged with the events documented. Read full review
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