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CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION | ||
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Positive:
10
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews
Jan 2, 2020
Season 2 Review:
A powerful and necessary second act. ... Is it hard to watch? Absolutely. But it’s also riveting and cathartic, especially since Kelly is being prosecuted. “Surviving R. Kelly Part II: The Reckoning” continues to press for justice and give voice to credible accusers and witnesses.
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Jan 8, 2019
Jan 7, 2019
Jan 4, 2019
Season 1 Review:
The makers of Surviving R. Kelly seem keenly aware of the scrutiny these women will face as they fight for justice; each interview is conducted as carefully as a deposition, and every survivor comes across as poised, intelligent and reflective. ... Racial issues permeate every facet of this tragedy, and a team led by executive producer dream hampton (a veteran cultural critic best known for her work on the documentary Notorious B.I.G.: Bigger Than Life and JAY-Z’s bestselling book Decoded) dissects them in all their complexity.
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Jan 3, 2019
Season 1 Review:
Aside from some dramatic musical stings and fades to black, the docuseries mostly eschews salacious framing in favor of measured, thorough documentation and extensive interviews with people from every stage of Kelly’s life. ... Surviving R. Kelly isn’t an easy watch; I dreaded pressing play. But once I started, it was impossible to look away--which is as it should be. It’s been too easy for too many to avert their eyes when the truth was staring back all along.
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Jan 3, 2019
Season 1 Review:
By the end of the series, as the producers follow families desperate to loosen their daughters from Kelly’s grip, it’s impossible to come to terms with the fact that this is not an overly dramatized saga you’d normally find on Lifetime, but the very real story of a person the subjects say is a “predator.”
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Jan 2, 2020
Season 2 Review:
Like its predecessor, the documentary is a piece of workmanlike TV that relies on restless editing, conspicuous background music, and repetition, with talking heads providing both sharp insight and familiar platitudes. ... There’s no denying the force of the material here nor of the ambitious, decades-spanning, multi-angle tale that the series tells.
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IndieWireJan 4, 2019
Season 1 Review:
[Executive producer dream] hampton keeps things simple, to the point of starkness, but that matter-of-fact approach makes “Surviving R. Kelly” all the more heartbreaking. The series relies largely on talking-head interviews, with many participants shot against a plain black background. It’s not the most innovative format, but it ensures we never lose focus on what’s being said. ... It is brutal viewing. But it’s so good to know it exists.
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Jan 4, 2019
Season 1 Review:
The women’s testimonies are indeed moving and necessary, and we should honor their perspectives. But watching those testimonies, I often felt like I was stepping into a private moment, as the women pore over the details of what they experienced, the majority of whom were very young teenagers at the time of their abuse. Aesthetically, the documentary trades in the coarse rhythms of a tabloid.
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