Critic Reviews

National Bird is a scathing and clearly delineated expose on America’s use of drone warfare and the effects it has on both the victims of the attacks and the crews operating the aircraft.

Mixing talking heads and on-the-ground footage, National Bird is a vital film about the true cost of war, well-reported by Kennebeck.

This isn’t merely “eating your cinematic vegetables,” as Kennebeck manages to present a well-paced and structured documentary that’s also culturally significant.

With stealth and elegance, Kennebeck brings these alarming truths into the light.

National Bird shows that there is indeed a horrible reckoning, but it mostly comes from within. This is a personal film about guilt.

National Bird is powerful cinematic journalism.

Kennebeck may be a newcomer to feature filmmaking, but her grasp of the material is accomplished.

National Bird hardly offers any counterpoint to the arguments presented, nor does it attempt to show how drones could possibly save the lives of U.S. soldiers either on the ground or in the air. But it does reveal a program whose international reach and seemingly limitless surveillance powers are extraordinarily difficult to keep in check.

National Bird should cast an impressive shadow, inspiring some real debate in op-ed and public radio forums.

[An] elegantly unsettling documentary.