Fresh
Bizarre, hypnotic, audacious.
James Adams, Globe and Mail
The Act of Killing
A story of killers who win and the society they build.
2012 · 2h 39m · Not Rated
Documentary, History
Directed by
Joshua Oppenheimer
,
Christine Cynn
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The Act of Killing
Overview
After befriending documentarian Joshua Oppenheimer, former Indonesian death squad leaders reenact their real-life mass killings in the style of various American film genres. As they recreate their past atrocities, the line between reality and performance blurs, exposing the lingering impact of Indonesia's 1965-66 anti-communist purge and the unsettling psychology of its perpetrators.
Director and cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
96%
Tomatometer
Fresh
The emotional places this troubling movie takes him to are rewardingly primal and potent, forcing both subject and viewer to wrestle with internal demons.
Keith Uhlich, Time Out New York
Fresh
I certainly do not move that the film should be suppressed, only that one should know what it is. It is a bath in a smiling madness.
Stanley Kauffmann, The New Republic
Fresh
This stunning "documentary of the imagination" shows Anwar and other thugs staging scenes of torture and murder for the camera.
Bill Stamets, Chicago Sun-Times
Fresh
In The Act of Killing, director Joshua Oppenheimer pulls off the impossible: He confronts great, incomprehensible evil and puts a human face on it.
Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald
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