The Great Invisible
RADiUS-TWC | Release Date: October 29, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
72
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyNov 6, 2014
Most of all, it's a sobering look at a part of coastal America that will never be the same again. Read full review
88
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)James AdamsOct 23, 2014
The Great Invisible is a dense, disturbing look at the effects (personal, political, economic, ecological, macro, micro) of the disaster. Read full review
80
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottDec 12, 2014
Yes, it is first and foremost a thorough chronicling of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, but its real value is in its function as an expose on the energy industry, which, with aid and abetting from the federal government, repeatedly places profit above all else, including environmental concerns and human safety. Read full review
80
SalonAndrew O'HehirOct 30, 2014
As Margaret Brown’s quietly devastating documentary The Great Invisible makes clear, the oil companies and the resource-guzzling, planet-poisoning economy they drive are too big to fail, and our entire consumerist culture of ever-cheaper goods and 24/7 convenience is bigger still. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeMar 14, 2014
A powerful documentary that reminds those of us who've moved on to other worries that this one is far from finished -- and that a government that proclaimed outrage during the summer of 2010 has seemingly done little to prevent or prepare for another such catastrophe. Read full review
80
VarietyJustin ChangMar 14, 2014
A uniquely thought-provoking chronicle of an event that, in the absence of any real preventive action taken by oil companies or the U.S. government, calls out for further cinematic and journalistic attention. Read full review
75
Washington PostStephanie MerryNov 6, 2014
Brown seamlessly blends the emotional, intimate stories of people with bigger pictures, using the explosion as the starting point for a ripple effect that just keeps growing. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comSheila O'MalleyOct 29, 2014
The Great Invisible is strongest when it focuses on the micro rather than the macro. How the spill impacted individuals in the region is the real story of The Great Invisible. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineNick PriggeOct 26, 2014
It effectively demonstrates how the systemic cause of the Deepwater Horizon explosion was tied as much to society's staggering dependence on fossil fuels as to the oil industry's greed. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesMartin TsaiOct 28, 2014
The Great Invisible gives voice to many of the previously nameless and faceless victims of the disaster. Some worked on the oil rig that fateful day; others have suffered its environmental and economic consequences. Read full review
70
The New York TimesStephen HoldenOct 28, 2014
Margaret Brown’s quietly infuriating documentary film about the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, includes depressing information that many would probably be happier not knowing. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleSteve DavisDec 10, 2014
To the filmmakers’ credit, the points of view in The Great Invisible are comprehensive and varied, though it’s clear who they view as the good guys and bad guys here. Read full review
60
The DissolveScott TobiasOct 28, 2014
The film is righteous but propagandistic, gearing its considerable insight into the Deepwater disaster and its aftermath into a narrow, prodding call to arms. For a documentary wide-ranging to the point of being diffuse, the last-ditch rallying cry seems entirely out of place. It undermines its own complexity. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloOct 29, 2014
It does put a human face on the suffering of those who lost jobs and/or loved ones, which has some value, but anyone hoping for a more nuanced take than “corporations are bad and regular folks are good” will be disappointed. Read full review
50
Village VoiceErnest HardyOct 28, 2014
Unfortunately, given both its content and the media's collective failure to fully report the (ongoing) story, the film only intermittently has a pulse. Read full review
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