This Is Congo
Abramorama | Release Date: June 29, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
75
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Screen DailyDavid D'ArcyJun 28, 2018
A documentary of stunning beauty and tragic violence. Read full review
90
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlJun 28, 2018
McCabe served as cinematographer, and his images here vary from striking to scarifying to magnificent. But his film’s power comes from its voices. Read full review
90
Film Journal InternationalChris BarsantiJun 28, 2018
McCabe stands apart not just for the impressive technical virtuosity of his filmmaking or his unblinking focus on the tragedy of the Congo, but for his refusal to chalk it up to generalized Third World chaos. Things happen for a reason, this devoutly humane but studious documentary argues, and until those reasons are dealt with, they will continue. Read full review
83
The PlaylistAndrew CrumpJun 28, 2018
This Is Congo has a point to prove and a righteous fury with which to prove it. But it’s focused and precise, which makes the sheer breadth of context required to understand it much easier to digest. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinJun 28, 2018
This Is Congo is a vivid and immersive — if not all that neatly structured or focused — documentary about the Democratic Republic of Congo. Read full review
80
VarietyGuy LodgeJun 28, 2018
As a contemporary study of the violent struggle between the hamstrung Congolese national army and M23 rebel forces in the North Kivu region, the film is often blisteringly effective, venturing to the frontline in pursuit of raw war footage likely to open many an outside viewer’s eyes — or, at its harshest interludes, prompt them to squeeze tightly shut. Read full review
80
CineVueJohn BleasdaleJun 28, 2018
This Is Congo is an angry film, yet one which is never blinded by its anger. McCabe offers no solutions – the UN Peacekeeping Force are rounded on at one point by furious locals – and no grounds for optimism. Yet even in its attempts to understand and to communicate that understanding, there is a defiance against the easy fallback of despair. Read full review
75
The PlaylistGary GarrisonJul 19, 2018
This Is Congo is not an easy documentary to watch. And anyone who knows anything about the tumultuous, war-torn country would understand that from the get-go. Still, despite expectations, it is an engaging, if unsettling, film. Read full review
75
The Film StageJared MobarakJun 28, 2018
McCabe’s goal for his film is to show the chaos objectively and thus not take sides or betray the reality of just how corrupt this fight proves. He places hubris, dignity, fear, and courage onscreen—raw and unfiltered. Read full review
70
The New York TimesBen KenigsbergJun 28, 2018
There is much to admire here, but the sheer scope of the subject matter might be even better served by the capaciousness of a mini-series. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterBoyd van HoeijJun 28, 2018
Both an unexciting and by-the-numbers history lesson and an inside-view, you-are-there look at an underreported armed conflict, the documentary This Is Congo is almost as full of contradictions as the nation it is trying to portray. Read full review
60
The GuardianCath ClarkeJun 28, 2018
A difficult, depressing watch. Read full review
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