Newtown
Abramorama | Release Date: October 7, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
87
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 16 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The New York TimesNeil GenzlingerOct 6, 2016
This film isn’t content to be merely a “never forget” reminder; it wants to convey just how deep and lasting the pain is, from this attack and, by extension, many others. Read full review
100
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlOct 5, 2016
Newtown is an act of memorialization, a demand that this most distractible of countries look close and continue to care. Read full review
100
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriJan 31, 2016
It confronts, but it doesn’t exploit. It’s about one of the most horrifying events of recent years, and yet it’s defined by its austerity, its sense of quiet. It is as much about the complex, dull horror of memory as it is about the brute, sharp horror of that day. Read full review
100
The PlaylistKatie WalshJan 31, 2016
This film is an important historical record, and an important reminder of an event in American history that could have changed everything, that should have changed everything. There’s no reason why it still can’t. Newtown is a crucial reminder of that. Read full review
100
VarietyAndrew BarkerJan 31, 2016
Structured more like a requiem than a polemic, the doc ebbs and flows in accordance with the cycles of mourning as it speaks with parents of the murdered children, as well as the teachers, priests, doctors and neighbors afflicted with survivor’s guilt, elegantly and devastatingly capturing the tenor of a small town that will carry these scars for at least a generation. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranOct 13, 2016
It's heartbreaking stuff, and Newtown handles it all with a gentle grace. Read full review
90
TheWrapTricia OlszewskiOct 6, 2016
Newtown, even coming nearly four years after the shooting, remains devastatingly timely. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenJan 31, 2016
A crucial, profound strength of Newtown is its refusal to rush toward “closure” as necessary, or even to suggest that it’s possible. There’s a striking lack of the bromides that usually abound in such contexts. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzOct 7, 2016
Newtown is being characterized as an apolitical documentary, just a portrait of Newtown before, during and after the shootings, but that's not entirely true. Read full review
83
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerOct 14, 2016
This is a movie about people trying to make sense out of the senselessness of what happened. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Oct 5, 2016
From a filmmaking standpoint, Newtown is neither adventurous nor unconventional. It doesn’t need to be; no documentary this emotionally direct, this emotionally draining, requires bells and whistles. Read full review
80
TimeStephanie ZacharekOct 6, 2016
It’s been said that if the U.S. couldn’t tighten its gun-control laws after Sandy Hook, it never will. But Newtown refutes hopelessness, making its case less with words than with faces it’s impossible to forget. Read full review
80
The GuardianLanre BakareJan 31, 2016
It’s a shocking and compelling piece of work. Read full review
75
The Film StageJordan RaupJan 31, 2016
While there’s no denying the film’s empathetic, tear-inducing impact, one wonders if a tighter structural grip would allow it to have been even more effective. Read full review
70
Screen DailyDavid D'ArcyJan 31, 2016
Newtown, which focuses on the bereaved families, is about coming to terms with loss. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineClayton DillardOct 2, 2016
Its enervated address of both mental-health treatment and gun laws receives few constructive articulations beyond a single scene. Read full review
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