The Force
Kino Lorber | Release Date: September 22, 2017 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
80
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 10 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChroniclePeter HartlaubSep 22, 2017
The fly-on-the-wall style is a slow build that leads to an immersive experience, and then an ultimate payoff as the change-minded department detours into another scandal. The Force is like watching a drug addict take a few meaningful steps toward recovery, only to relapse again. Read full review
90
Village VoiceBilge EbiriSep 6, 2017
The Force is hypnotic and eye-opening. Nicks has a style that is both experiential and ethereal: From its ground-level immersion in the minutiae of police work to its sweeping helicopter shots of the city at night, The Force has the texture of a Michael Mann film combined with the clarity of a Frederick Wiseman documentary. Read full review
90
Screen DailyTim GriersonAug 2, 2017
In the gripping, inspiring — and, ultimately, dispiriting — documentary The Force, a troubled police force tries to redeem itself, only to learn how nearly impossible the task may be. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comPeter SobczynskiSep 23, 2017
This is a strong film that tackles a charged subject in a fair and even-handed manner. The Force will give viewers of all social and political persuasions much to think about afterwards. Read full review
83
The Film StageTony HindsAug 2, 2017
The Force examines one of the most talked about issues in America from an ideal vantage point, revealing disheartening complexities with an intriguing momentum. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranSep 22, 2017
The result, unusual in a documentary involving the police and the public, is a film that does not advocate for anything but the truth, one that aims to show what happens on both sides of an issue rather than coming down in favor of one or the other. Read full review
80
The New York TimesManohla DargisSep 21, 2017
The movie may offer an incriminatory catalog of organizational failure, but it also repeatedly shows people trying to make the system work. Read full review
70
VarietyOwen GleibermanAug 2, 2017
The strength, and fascination, of The Force is that the movie isn’t on anyone’s side. It’s cognizant of the brutality and violence that police officers, in our era, have been caught on phone cameras committing. At the same time, it’s not out to demonize the police — it’s out to capture the pressures they’re under, and to show us what their job looks like from the inside. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloSep 19, 2017
To his credit, director Peter Nicks (The Waiting Room) accepts the dispiriting trajectory that this initially hopeful film ultimately takes—there’s no dissembling here. Trouble is, most of the ugly stuff happens off-camera, necessitating a secondhand second half that amounts to an embarrassed “Oops.” Read full review
50
Slant MagazineKeith WatsonSep 18, 2017
Though initially compelling, Peter Nick's documentary is fundamentally without a clear perspective on its subject. Read full review
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