Pete Talbot’s review published on Letterboxd:
I was a little skeptical about the animation style of this documentary at first as it mixes transcripts of eyewitness accounts with actors portraying the real people in the likeness of the real people, but in the totality of the film it really works to great affect. All documentary is a copy or a narrative of real life and the animation reminds us of that false reality, but when it switches to real footage or the real people it is a reminder that the subject of the film is real and raw and heartbreaking.
This is a very well made documentary about the University of Texas Tower shooting in the 1960's. I first heard about this shooting by seeing some kind of TV documentary or re-enactment when I was in middle school and in the following years the Oklahoma City Bombing happened with I was in 7th or 8th grade, Columbine when I was in high school and 9/11 when I first entered college. I really think that having a sense of history of tragedy in the US kind of emotionally prepared me for the national tragedies that were to come and also gave me permission to understand the rawness and sadness and not just be consumed by surprise, fear, anger, or wonder of living through a historic event.
I'm sure there are stories left out of this, but the stories told to us here are so dramatic and heartbreaking it that it is captivating in telling such a dramatic and heartbreaking event in US history. I look forward to seeing other stories that director Keith Maitland tells through film, documentary or otherwise.