- Network: HBO
- Series Premiere Date: Sep 26, 2021
Critic Reviews
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[Ry Russo-Young] tackles [her family's story] in her three-part autobiographical documentary (Sept. 26 on HBO) with a frankness and nuance that’s nothing short of astonishing. Brave, balanced, and brimming with empathy, it’s a strong contender for the best non-fiction work of the year.
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In her tender, fair, and largely non-judgmental, but honest exploration of the explosion that nearly decimated her family, Russo-Young creates a poignant story about love, loss, need, and the repercussions of some unfortunate choices you can never recover from.
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Nuclear Family promises to be an engaging 3-hour look at a strong family that withstood a challenge that would tear other families apart.
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Though heavy on talking heads, the sophisticated assembly draws from myriad sources, often finding clever visual connections, while the tense stutter of a Philip Glass-like score lends urgency and intrigue.
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Nuclear Family remains resolute in its focus on the personal, rather than political, repercussions of the case. It doesn’t try all that hard to serve up civics lessons, nor does it need to when the details speak for themselves.
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Unlike other recent documentaries that have plumbed the depths of parental history, like Kirsten Johnson’s Dick Johnson Is Dead or Sarah Polley’s The Stories We Tell, this project contains no experimentation or risk in how a family narrative is re-constructed for the screen. It’s a he-said she-said story, ready-made for the internet–an eruption of discourse with little coherence.