Casting JonBenét
Netflix | Release Date: April 28, 2017 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
100
MTV NewsAmy NicholsonApr 27, 2017
Casting JonBenét, my favorite film at this year's Sundance, shows a director in full control. Read full review
100
The GuardianCharlie PhillipsJan 27, 2017
This isn’t really a film in search of a definitive truth – it’s a deliberate provocation to the conventional notion of truth in the age of media frenzies over salacious crime. Read full review
100
Screen DailyTim GriersonJan 27, 2017
The mirror it holds up to its subjects — and perhaps the audience — is incredibly, sometimes painfully illuminating. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterLeslie FelperinJan 27, 2017
Kitty Green creates something powerful, provocative and dazzlingly original with her second feature. Read full review
83
IndieWireEric KohnJan 27, 2017
When the concept really clicks, Casting JonBenet operates as a darkly entertaining look at how gossip can fuel legend to the point where truth loses its relevance. Read full review
80
VarietyPeter DebrugeApr 28, 2017
Director Kitty Green’s high-concept documentary Casting JonBenét breaks fresh ground, probing the public, rather than family members or suspects (often the same thing). Read full review
80
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlApr 26, 2017
Green's doc — like the case at its center — defies resolution or easy answers. Read full review
80
CineVuePatrick GambleFeb 15, 2017
Blending and bending genres to highlight the elusiveness of the truth, Green's avant-garde documentary presents the audience with a wealth of interviewees, each giving their own account of how the murder was reported. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoApr 28, 2017
Whereas crime docs typically seek to offer everything that is known about a crime, Casting JonBenet proves how little we will ever understand about that night. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Apr 26, 2017
The film ends on a strangely moving theatrical exercise, as the various performers gather together on a soundstage recreation of the Ramsey home to dramatize all the major theories in tandem, creating an overlapping spectacle of speculative horror. Read full review
67
The Film StageRyan SwenApr 28, 2017
For all of the technical skill of the production (and the general lack thereof among the actors), there is a sense of hollowness, as if Green’s insistence on examining each performer under a microscope robs both the actor and the person they are portraying of their humanity. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyApr 27, 2017
A clever filmmaking experiment? Without a doubt. A satisfying one? Not so much. Read full review
50
The New York TimesManohla DargisApr 27, 2017
It’s a handsome package that never transcends the banality of its ideas, most of which involve how different people, including from Boulder, were affected by the case. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleApr 27, 2017
Though a thoughtful reflection is occasionally allowed — sometimes humanity finds its way out — this indulgent, stylized slog is straight out of a well-worn aren’t-people-weird-and-awful playbook. Read full review
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