Popular reviews

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  Review by felipe ½ 4

  sooo cuuuute!!!
  he almost killed 200 people but he learned that it was wrong!!!!

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  Review by Jack Henderson ★½ 3

  An important story, but I found everything about the framing to be reprehensible. So much burden is put on the Islamic community to be these perfect representations due to actions they had nothing to do with, and all this documentary does is reinforce that sense that the onus is on Muslims to be the main deradicalizing force of problems caused by the US military.

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  Review by Leighton Trent ★★ 2

  There's a story somewhere in here, but these 29 minutes aren't it.

  The troublesome, muddled framing of Richard "Mac" McKinney's almost mass murder inside a small town mosque in Indiana, and his subsequent conversion to Islam at said mosque, is the heart of the problem of this year's most polarizing documentary short subject nominee, a broad and clumsily presented topical treatise of sorts on how to truly kill (or not, as it were) your fellow man with kindness.

  As I said, there is a story here, but the way director Joshua Seftel chooses to present the narrative of what takes place, with the recounting of events and the particular interviews placed where and how they are, simplifies and dulls the…

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  Review by Brittani Burnham ½ 10

  This was gross. They're trying to make the point that kindness fixes everything but it's framed as if Muslims have to be extra nice to white people or else they might blow them up.

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  Review by CinemaJoe ½ 5

  Ah yes, I forgot it’s the Muslim community’s responsibility to ensure they don’t get murdered by angry white men simply for existing.

  What an absolute tone deaf and frankly embarrassing documentary.

  Oscar Gauntlet: #51/54

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  Review by joe ★½

  Genuinely can’t believe this was nominated

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  Review by teamgal ½

  A half-hour long documentary about racism that never even mentions the word. It's also about mental illness, but that concept is never broached.

  2023 Oscars, Nominated Films, ranked

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  Review by Geral ★★ 1

  So if they hadn't been nice they would have been dead? Talk about having to be extra perfect as immigrants or the bigots will get ya. 🤔 I mean obviously glad he didn't, but can't help to think that that's the only outcome if you deal with normal people. Guess I'm too naive.

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  Review by gui pires ★ 4

  the discrimination against muslim americans after 9/11 is devastating.

  i have ZERO sympathy for this guy.

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  Review by Rafael "Parker!!" Jovine ★★½ 4

  Well, they got me. Didn't see that ending coming

  A fantastic example of the value of editing. Not to spoil anything, but this is one documentary where you shouldn't make any assumptions until the very end; the whole thing is deceptive, which really works to the short's advantage. While I appreciate the effort, I just wasn't impressed by the final product. Neither the plot nor the characters provide anything new or "refreshing".

  TODAY SCHEDULE
  Stranger At The Gate
  Women Talking
  The Quiet Girl
  Stalag 17
  Sabrina

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  Review by fdr69 ½ 1

  idk .. what the goal was... . like at all.. did they literally pay a terrorist to talk about racist hatred . his homicidal racist rhetoric.. and i'm supposed to be like aweeee the oppressed embraced him and stopped a terrorist attack uwu love heals all xx like bro WHAT

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  Review by NotAnnaFaris 💔🏴‍☠️💔 ★½ 4

  "I personally believe that we need to be kind to those ppl even more."

  & I personally believe that American Muslims aren't responsible for winning over American xenophobes.
  🤷🏼‍♀️

  For the record, I do not doubt the veracity nor potential power of this story. My issues are strictly with the filmmaking, which seems more concerned with surprising its audience than saying anything meaningful.

  
  Dammit...I was SURE that Jay Rosenblatt would again be responsible for this year's tone-deaf doc short nom. Looks like he has some competition.