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Unlocking the Cage

Documentary - 2016
Unlocking the Cage
7.0
80%
63
Renowned filmmakers D A Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus follow determined animal rights activist Steven Wise into the courtroom for an unprecedented battle that seeks to utilize the writ of habeas corpus to expand legal “personhood” to include certain animals. Wise’s unusual plaintiffs—chimpanzees Tommy and Kiko, once famed showbiz stars—are now living in filth, struggling to survive. Wise and his impassioned legal team take us into the field, revealing gripping evidence of such abuse and plunging us into the intricacies of their case as they probe preconceived notions of what it means to be a non-human animal.

Details

Rated:
TV-14
Runtime:
90 min
Release date:
25 Jan 2016
Country:
US
Languages:
English, French
Budget:
$0
Revenue:
$0
Awards:
2 wins & 1 nomination

Top Critics Reviews

rotten:
The picture is essentially a brief for Wise's case. And as such, it's as dry and uncinematic as a dusty legal document.
– Soren Anderson,
Seattle Times,
7 Jul 2016
fresh:
Makes a worthy case for reconsidering the sturdiness of laws that explicitly separate humans from animals.
– Robert Abele,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Jun 2016
fresh:
It's a tricky narrative challenge to shift from inherently compelling wildlife scenes to abstract courtroom debate, but the film manages it capably, even spicing things up with one justice's admonition that Wise needs to cut his slavery analogies.
– Tom Russo,
Boston Globe,
23 Jun 2016
fresh:
What constitutes self-determination and what responsibility humans have toward other sentient beings can't be answered by a single film, but this is nevertheless a valuable contribution to an ongoing and still-shifting conversation.
– Dmitry Samarov,
Chicago Reader,
9 Jun 2016
fresh:
Even allowing for the anthropomorphic misreadings that humans often apply to animals, it's clear that many of the nonhumans in this film deserve a better life. Unlocking the Cage provides some legal ballast for that sentiment.
– Peter Rainer,
Christian Science Monitor,
27 May 2016
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