Strong Island

2017

Action / Crime / Documentary

Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Certified Fresh 100% · 48 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 57% · 500 ratings
IMDb Rating 6.4/10 10 4107 4.1K

Please enable your VPN when downloading torrents

If you torrent without a VPN, your ISP can see that you're torrenting and may throttle your connection and get fined by legal action!

Get Expert VPN

Plot summary

Examining the violent death of the filmmaker’s brother and the judicial system that allowed his killer to go free, this documentary interrogates murderous fear and racialized perception, and re-imagines the wreckage in catastrophe’s wake, challenging us to change.


Uploaded by: FREEMAN
January 31, 2021 at 02:47 AM

Director

Top cast

720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
992.12 MB
1280*714
English 2.0
NR
23.976 fps
1 hr 47 min
Seeds ...
1.99 GB
1920*1072
English 5.1
NR
23.976 fps
1 hr 47 min
Seeds 2

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by Jeremy_Urquhart 8 / 10

Remarkable and deserving of more attention

Okay, it would be a stretch to label this as underrated. It was nominated for a best documentary Oscar and received a good deal of acclaim from the critics at least. But on IMDB it's got a surprisingly low user score, as well as not nearly the number of votes it deserves. It's on Netflix and therefore likely buried under so many other true crime documentaries, but it's easily one of the better ones. It's maybe the best film of this sub-genre I've seen since the absolutely heartbreaking 'Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father' from 2008.

The emotional impact of Strong Island is similar to Dear Zachary. Maybe not in exactly the same manner, but it hits hard and seems explicitly designed to provoke strong emotional reactions from its audience. It's an achingly, almost uncomfortably personal story about director Yance Ford recounting the circumstances of his brother's death, way back in the early 1990s, interviewing the people who knew him best as well as effectively interviewing himself in parts. It was a risky move, becoming more than a narrator, though not in the occasionally grating way that Michael Moore or Morgan Spurlock often do in their documentaries. What Ford does here feels more honest, and much braver. Those other two often have an ironic, 'hip' sort of detachment to what they're talking about, but Ford doesn't hold back at all. It's confrontational, even at times to the audience, and maybe that's turned some people off. But I found myself respecting the decision. Ford talks about things in a way that 99.9% of people would be too afraid to, and when the subject matter is as serious as it is here, it's more than understandable.

It's not a fast-paced movie, but I wouldn't call it slow, which is a common and somewhat confusing criticism I've seen on here. The running time felt just about perfect- not too long, but not too brisk, and even if you find yourself restless here and there, it's worth it for the stunning last couple of scenes; particularly the very ending, which left me with a sizeable lump in my throat.

There isn't a whole lot to criticise. I loved how stark the first 20 or so minutes felt with no music of any kind, but eventually a fairly traditional score is utilised, and while the music isn't bad, I really liked the empty, gut-wrenching feeling that the music-free atmosphere conjured up. Maybe some people will call this documentary biased too, but that didn't bother me. It's as much an exploration of grief- and how a tragic event can tear apart a family- as it is a critique and expose of the flaws in the justice system. Even if you're not moved by the story of what happened to Ford's brother, or convinced that his killer wasn't acting in self-defence, the film is potentially even more compelling as a recounting of what happened to the people who knew him after his sudden death. If you're not at least a little saddened by learning of how his parents coped with his passing, or hearing about how close he was to achieving a dream job of his before his sudden death, then I'd be honestly shocked.

Strong Island is a sometimes slowly paced, often very challenging film, that may or may not be too confrontational or 'biased' for some people's tastes, but I thought it was excellently constructed and emotionally powerful. I want to recommend it to as many people as I can, because I think that while it isn't perfect, it says a great deal about so many things, and has a very bold and compelling way of doing so. And as a movie that's now on Netflix, you've really got nothing to lose beyond about 107 minutes, and I can all but guarantee that if you go in with an open mind, you'll find at least something to respect or be moved by within that runtime.

Reviewed by tprpyspk 10 / 10

Increíble!

I fail to understand any reviewers who did not / could not appreciate this brilliant docu. Incredibly shot and edited. The quietness is especially compelling. The photographs contributed to the cinematic value. I struggle to understand how other reviewers wanted this story to be something else when this is the family's story. It is their lived experience. Congrats to Yancy for their achievements.

Reviewed by bijou-2 1 / 10

Why do this?

Slow, prodding, and full of false assumptions. This lazy documentary is full of repetitious and false narratives that never make it's point. Character after character repeats themselves in slow boring detail, while adding nothing to the narrative. Was he a good man? Yes, he was a good man. Pause..., pause..... He was indeed a good man. He was a very fine good man. Pause....snore, wait, ... He was so good. He was pause, pause, pause .......good. He did some good things....he did not help rob the ATM man. That was never proven....

He was my brother and by the way, he was a good man, except when he was throwing vacuum cleaners and car doors around in order to threaten others. I admired him then... pause. My bad.... pause...........Oh, and by the way, I am a lesbian and he was nice to me, so there!?

Did the main character, a 260 pound overweight black male, scare a chop shop white criminal into shooting him dead in self defense after being assaulted once before? I was not on the Grand Jury but, after seeing this film, I would would say "yes!".

Read more IMDb reviews

No comments yet

Be the first to leave a comment