One Child Nation

Name: One Child Nation
Genre: History, Documentary
Released: August 9, 2019
Duration: 88 min
Rating: 85
Cast: Brian Stuy, Jiaoming Pang, Longlan Stuy, Peng Wang

2019

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 25 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 31 Ratings

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6.7

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6.7	Your Score
6.7	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 31 Ratings

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One Child Nation

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Movie Details & Credits

Amazon Studios | Release Date: August 9, 2019 | R

Starring: Brian Stuy, Jiaoming Pang, Longlan Stuy, Peng Wang

Movie Facts:

Winner of the U.S. Grand Jury Prize (Documentary) at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.

Summary: China’s One Child Policy, the extreme population control measure that made it illegal for couples to have more than one child, may have ended in 2015, but the process of dealing with the trauma of its brutal enforcement is only just beginning. From award-winning documentarian Nanfu Wang (Hooligan Sparrow, I Am Another You) and JialingChina’s One Child Policy, the extreme population control measure that made it illegal for couples to have more than one child, may have ended in 2015, but the process of dealing with the trauma of its brutal enforcement is only just beginning. From award-winning documentarian Nanfu Wang (Hooligan Sparrow, I Am Another You) and Jialing Zhang, the sweeping One Child Nation explores the ripple effect of this devastating social experiment, uncovering one shocking human rights violation after another - from abandoned newborns, to forced sterilizations and abortions, and government abductions. Wang digs fearlessly into her own personal life, weaving her experience as a new mother and the firsthand accounts of her family members into archival propaganda material and testimony from victims and perpetrators alike, yielding a revelatory and essential record of this chilling, unprecedented moment in human civilization. [Amazon Studios]… Expand

Director: Nanfu Wang and Zhang Lynn

Genre(s): History, Documentary

Rating: R

Runtime: 88 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Michael Phillips

Aug 15, 2019

In a very full and riveting 85 minutes, One Child Nation assembles a huge story together from many small, crucial pieces. Read full review

100

David Rooney

Feb 3, 2019

Densely informative yet always grounded in deep personal investment and clear-eyed compassion, this is a powerful indictment of a traumatic social experiment, made all the more startling by the success of the propaganda machine in making people continue to believe it was necessary. Read full review

IndieWire Eric Kohn

Feb 3, 2019

Using a remarkable personal lens, the film examines the reverberations of propaganda on broken families across multiple generations. The cumulative effect creates the sense that its destructive effects continue to be felt well beyond China’s borders. Read full review

The Film Stage Eli Friedberg

Aug 5, 2019

What it lacks in formal finesse or educational scope, the film more than compensates as a taut illustration of the profound disconnect between high-level social engineering and the lived social realities that totalitarian policies entail. It’s quiet, feminist rage against Big Brother. Read full review

Richard Brody

Aug 8, 2019

This boldly confrontational and journalistically probing documentary, by the director Nanfu Wang, goes beyond the slogan of China’s longtime “one-child policy” to reveal the system of violence, corruption, propaganda, and silence on which it depended. Read full review

Kimberley Jones

Aug 20, 2019

It’s only in the last quarter of the film, when Wang strays from her own family’s touchstones to explore a case of separated twins, that One Child Nation loses just a touch of its urgency. Read full review

Rhys Handley

Aug 8, 2019

The revelations and images contained within are individually resonant and telling of a wider picture, but there’s a sense that Wang, or perhaps her financiers, are cautious of pushing too far. Unfortunately, this winds up leaving One Child Nation a muddle of confused half-messages which reach for and fall slightly short of an admirable goal. Read full review

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User Reviews

Strangeluv

Aug 15, 2019

If you think for a moment that any "anglo-Americans" are delighting in this crushing story you are sadly mistaken. But go ahead Sunnylee and wag your finger at the Americans and deflect the attention from what could be the biggest holocaust the world hasn't ever seen. And they were BABIES!If you think for a moment that any "anglo-Americans" are delighting in this crushing story you are sadly mistaken. But go ahead Sunnylee and wag your finger at the Americans and deflect the attention from what could be the biggest holocaust the world hasn't ever seen. And they were BABIES! Shame on you. Does your self-righteous indignation have no bounds. Oops! I've committed another microaggresion.… Expand

1 of 11 users found this helpful110

NiK2000and3

Jan 1, 2021

Brutally honest, be it the subject of the movie or it's cast. It doesn't leave you with the right answer, but with your, answer, which is it's answer.

0 of 6 users found this helpful06

Plastics

Oct 19, 2019

A knockout of a historical doc. One of the most scaring stories you will learn about humanity. Everyone left the screening speechless and crying and you won't be an exception.

0 of 6 users found this helpful06

JLuis_001

Mar 21, 2023

A crucial portrayal of what absolute government control means beyond indoctrination, propaganda and the cultural environment, which frighteningly but brilliantly led to a generalised society-wide cover-up to enforce the rules.

Yes, it makes a real impact.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

eagleeyeviking

May 3, 2020

Nanfu Wang's "One Child Nation" investigates the human cost of China's controversial One Child Policy in both a personal and national scale. It is a well-told and horrifying documentary that bears witness to this dark period in Chinese history.

0 of 6 users found this helpful06

sirrong

Feb 8, 2020

Informative and heartfelt, but it doesn't really chronicle as compelling of a story as most of my favorite documentaries. This felt a little like homework.

0 of 7 users found this helpful07

sunnylee

Aug 10, 2019

Wang brilliantly plays to her audience by once again wagging her finger at China to the delight of Anglo-Americans. In the purest form of cinema entertainment, she invites you to forget about the problems in your local government and feel superior to the "backwards" policies in China. AWang brilliantly plays to her audience by once again wagging her finger at China to the delight of Anglo-Americans. In the purest form of cinema entertainment, she invites you to forget about the problems in your local government and feel superior to the "backwards" policies in China. A feel-good event.… Expand

9 of 17 users found this helpful98

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29	#29 Best Movie of 2019
87	#87 Most Shared Movie of 2019