Quartile rating: 8/10 · 1 rating
In 1989, five black and Latino teenagers from Harlem were arrested and later convicted of raping a white woman in New York City's Central Park. They spent between 6 and 13 years in prison before a serial rapist confessed that he alone had committed the crime, leading to their convictions being overturned. Set against a backdrop of a decaying city beset by violence and racial tension, this is the story of that horrific crime, the rush to judgment by the police, a media clamoring for sensational stories and an outraged public, and the five lives upended by this miscarriage of justice.
Ken Burns' documentary tells a devastating story of wrongful conviction with meticulous archival research and deeply personal testimonials from the five men themselves. The narrative arc is genuinely compelling — building from the hysteria of 1989 New York to the eventual exoneration — and the Ending carries real emotional weight as justice is finally acknowledged. The cinematography is solid documentary work with effective use of archival footage but doesn't transcend the form. Acting (interviewee performance and presence) is earnest and moving without being uniformly gripping. Novelty is moderate — the subject is singular and important but the Burns documentary approach is familiar, keeping it from a higher mark.