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Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun?

2018

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 11 Critic Reviews

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78

USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 7 Ratings

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5.7

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5.7	Your Score
5.7	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 7 Ratings

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Did You Wonder Who Fired The Gun?

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Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun?

Movie Details & Credits

Grasshopper Film | Release Date: February 28, 2018 | NR

Summary: In 1946, my great-grandfather murdered a black man named Bill Spann and got away with it." So begins Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun?, filmmaker Travis Wilkerson critically acclaimed investigation into the murder, family history, and the societal mores that allowed it to happen. Wilkerson tells a frightening and troubling story,In 1946, my great-grandfather murdered a black man named Bill Spann and got away with it." So begins Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun?, filmmaker Travis Wilkerson critically acclaimed investigation into the murder, family history, and the societal mores that allowed it to happen. Wilkerson tells a frightening and troubling story, incorporating scenes from To Kill a Mockingbird, the music of Janelle Monáe and Phil Ochs, and a dogged search for the truth — one that unearths long-buried secrets, destroyed records, and real threats of violence.… Expand

Director: Travis Wilkerson

Genre(s): Documentary

Rating: NR

Runtime: 90 min

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Metascore

Negative:

0

Critic Reviews

100

The New York Times

A.O. Scott

Feb 27, 2018

The movie, a scorching and rigorous essay on memory and accountability, is neither a profession of guilt nor a performance of virtue. Though his inquiry is intensely, at times painfully personal, Mr. Wilkerson is above all concerned with unpacking the mechanisms of racial domination. Read full review

100

The New Yorker

Richard Brody

Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun?...is an overwhelming experience. It fills the current American landscape with the hatred, oppression, and violence that also scars its history. Read full review

90

Village Voice

Bilge Ebiri

It’s hard not to experience Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun? and not get shivers up your spine — from fear, from anger, and from the beauty of Wilkerson’s filmmaking. Read full review

83

The Film Stage Jonah Jeng

Feb 27, 2018

When the repressed past gains sudden and violent visibility in the present, the genre that’s evoked is horror, and one of the film’s greatest strengths is the way it leans into this association. Read full review

75

RogerEbert.com Brian Tallerico

Mar 1, 2018

It’s impossible to deny the power of much of what’s on display here. Wilkerson looks at the racial discord and violence in the world around him and has the courage to examine his own legacy instead of just casting off the concept as something that happens to or is perpetrated by others. Read full review

70

The Hollywood Reporter

John DeFore

Recounting his attempt to learn more about his great-grandfather's killing of a black man in 1946, Wilkerson is a compelling enough guide that it may be some time before the audience starts to wonder if the central mystery is a red herring. Read full review

40

Variety

Jay Weissberg

Wilkerson doesn’t mean to suggest ambiguity with his title, since no one questions the identity of the culprit, but it is regrettably indicative of his naval-gazing focus on family skeletons, combined with a deeply annoying tendency to sensationalize the obvious. Read full review

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User Reviews

7

moretez

Jul 9, 2020

It wasn't just about a murder... Two Families, both live in Alabama, one is black, one is white...

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0

NathanielJS

Oct 17, 2020

This is definitely the worst documentary I've ever seen. The Director/Narrator seems to have started with the assumption that every southerner is a murderous psychopath out to get him. The film starts with an interesting premise of investigating a family legend about a racist murderThis is definitely the worst documentary I've ever seen. The Director/Narrator seems to have started with the assumption that every southerner is a murderous psychopath out to get him. The film starts with an interesting premise of investigating a family legend about a racist murder committed by the Director's great-grandfather, but quickly derails. The death the film's supposed to be investigating is barely touched on, and the movie is padded with bizarre segments of strange visuals accompanied by "experimental" music written by the Director. Perhaps the most telling is this anecdote he relates:
While filming around the town where the killing occurred, he is approached by some children. When he tells them that he's filming a documentary about the area, they go to find their father whom they say has lived there a long time an knows all the local history. The narrator waits for them to leave and then drives away quickly, saying he feared for his safety. He tells this whole story in hushed tones as if he barely escaped with his life.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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Awards & Rankings

98	#98 Best Movie of 2018

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