Flint Town

:

Season 1
  • Network: Netflix
  • Series Premiere Date: Mar 2, 2018
Metascore
83

Universal acclaim - based on 5 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 5
  3. Negative: 0 out of 5

Critic Reviews

  1. The Detroit News
    Reviewed by: Adam Graham
    Mar 2, 2018
    100
    Flint is a timebomb, and Flint Town is an impressively crafted tick-tock of things going wrong with a place, one after another.
  2. IndieWire
    Reviewed by: Steve Greene
    Mar 2, 2018
    91
    Flint Town doesn’t offer easy solutions, but it does provide something valuable: a calm, reasoned presentation of the hope for another idea expressed in that speech given in the aftermath of Dallas, “that we are not as divided as we seem.”
  3. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    Reviewed by: Matt Zoller Seitz
    Mar 7, 2018
    80
    As intelligent and considerate as it is, the series has a somewhat repetitious feel until the third episode, which jumps ahead to July 2016, six months into the Chief Johnson’s tenure. From here through the end of the story, Flint Town shows how the mentality of American police is shaped by their personal politics, which in turn are shaped by their consistently unpleasant and sometimes fearful experiences on the job, as well as reactionary and sometimes racist attitudes handed down throughout the inception of modern policing.
  5. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Robert Lloyd
    Mar 2, 2018
    80
    What the filmmakers show is all worth a look, and maybe a second one. (Residents get a say too; note the inevitable, but never unwelcome, black barber shop scene.) It opens you up to different, conflicting points of view--or at least reminds you that they exist--which is just what you want from such a series.
  6. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Daniel Fienberg
    Mar 2, 2018
    70
    Though it may be sloppy and inconsistent at times, Flint Town also looks beautiful.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
5.8

Mixed or average reviews- based on 25 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 25
  3. Negative: 7 out of 25
  1. CAIN
    Mar 4, 2018
    8
    Great documentary. I guess I wasn't as educated on everything that was going on in Flint because I definitely felt like I took something awayGreat documentary. I guess I wasn't as educated on everything that was going on in Flint because I definitely felt like I took something away from it, unlike some of the other user reviews I'm reading here. Personally, I'm glad they showed both perspectives. I don't feel like it's the director's job to form an opinion for you… Full Review »
  2. TVBug
    Mar 8, 2018
    2
    User scores better reflect the quality of this effort (and shows in general). It's beautifully done, but doesn't go beyond what is alreadyUser scores better reflect the quality of this effort (and shows in general). It's beautifully done, but doesn't go beyond what is already known about the situation in Flint. It ends up feeling like any other cop show. If it provided more than just the perspective of the police and told the broader story--the story we don't get from the news--it might have been more interesting and enlightening. We see the police perspective in the news and in about half of the tv shows. The high professional reviews are puzzling.… Full Review »
  3. Xefan
    Mar 4, 2018
    3
    The show was beautifully filmed, but it was hard to understand what point the documentary maker was trying to make. On one hand it felt likeThe show was beautifully filmed, but it was hard to understand what point the documentary maker was trying to make. On one hand it felt like they were trying to put across an incredibly pro-police view, and make them out to be the victims, but on the other it highlighted the utter farcical nature of US policing - classic shoot first think later mentality which leaves them clearly as the problem, not the victims of the problem.

    It didn't tell us anything we didn't already know, we already knew US police forces were full of people who genuinely want to improve things but can't, but also full of racist undereducated people who have literally no idea how to protect people and win communities over and who are simply part the problem.

    So whilst the filmography was fantastic, it was ultimately hard to take anything meaningful away - it would almost be best viewed as a comedy, if it weren't for the fact that the farcically poor nature of the policing shown and the abysmally low quality of some of the officers meant we also had to see the horrific consequences, such as two dogs violently and pointlessly killed by the police and their bodies just thrown out with the trash as if they were nothing - that's not exactly going to win hearts and minds.    … Full Review »
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