Fresh
The result is gripping, moving and revelatory, an unabashed if implicit critique of the death penalty.
Ben Walters, Time Out
Into the Abyss
A gaze into the abyss of the human soul.
2011 · 1h 47m · PG-13
Crime, Documentary
Directed by
Werner Herzog
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Into the Abyss
Overview
We do not know when and how we will die. Death Row inmates do. Werner Herzog embarks on a dialogue with Death Row inmates, asks questions about life and death and looks deep into these individuals, their stories, their crimes.
Director and cast
- Werner Herzog Director
- Werner Herzog as Narrator (voice)
- Jason Burkett as Self - Convicted Murderer
- Richard Lopez as Self - Death House Chaplin (as The Reverend Richard Lopez)
- Damon Hall as Self - Montgomery County Sheriff's Department
- Lisa Stolter-Balloun as Self - Daughter and Sister to Victims
- Charles Richardson as Self - Older Brother of Jeremy
- Jared Talbert as Self - Citizen of Conroe Texas
- Amanda West as Self - Former Bartender
- Delbert Burkett as Self - Jason Burkett's Father
- Melyssa Burkett as Self - Jason Burkett's Wife
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
92%
Tomatometer
Fresh
Herzog is pursuing no agenda with Into the Abyss, despite his opposition to extreme judicial measures. He's seeking to answer the question of why people kill, especially in a situation such as this where the reason for the murders was so meaningless.
Peter Howell, Toronto Star
Fresh
Into the Abyss does what too few documentaries these days do - it gives ample play to all sides of the argument. Herzog allows us to think things through on our own.
Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor
Fresh
The overriding point of Into the Abyss, what keeps this sad, sorrowful film from becoming depressing and elevates it far above the usual chatter of liberal-conservative debate, is that there can be light on the other end of even the darkest of tunnels.
Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald
Fresh
"Into the Abyss" makes a strong case for the inhumanity of capital punishment, regardless of the crime or the criminal.
Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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