Who Killed Garrett Phillips?
Season 1 Premiere:
Jul 24, 2019
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
84
User score
Generally Favorable
6.2
My Score
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Metascore
Universal Acclaim
84
100% Positive
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Jul 22, 2019
90
Filmmaker Liz Garbus’s “Who Killed Garrett Phillips?” meticulously and even masterfully brings its viewers to this very place of angry exasperation, laying out the narrative details of a botched murder investigation that some of us might have been vaguely aware of, if at all. ... Ambiguity is not a flaw here; in fact, it’s what makes this story so compelling, so infuriating and so sad.
Jul 22, 2019
90
The strength of “Who Killed Garrett Phillips?” isn’t just about what’s on screen but how it got there, i.e., the assembling of parts—audio, video, interviews, testimony. These are allowed to speak for themselves. ... Three hours of riveting television.
Jul 23, 2019
88
At its best, it reminded me of the landmark HBO docuseries “Paradise Lost” or the remarkable “The Staircase” in its level of detail and how it captures how people make the kind of drastic mistakes that allow the answers to get further and further out of reach.
Jul 22, 2019
80
Garbus gives a strong close to this three-week series of format experimentation. You may not come away from Who Killed Garrett Phillips? with a clear answer on the title question or with any one single and specific judicial impropriety. You'll just have plenty to ponder and argue about.
Jul 22, 2019
70
Oscar-winning director Liz Garbus plays it straight, leaning on recorded telephone traffic and lengthy video excerpts from questionable interrogations.
User score
Generally Favorable
6.2
60% Positive
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
20% Mixed
1 Rating
1 Rating
20% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
Sep 16, 2019
5
I watched The Thin Blue Line in 1988. The originality of that film and the invention of that type of docu-drama struck me as very important work. I've watched several documentaries about The Thin Blue Line. I think it is something everyone should be familiar with. Subsequent to that experience I have attempted many times to watch various forms of reality-film/TV - and, I can't do it. I become incredibly bored after watching a few minutes of any (and I mean every) reality film (or TV series). I know many people enjoy the genre and I make no judgements regarding them. I do watch a few minutes of very important reality film to stay abreast of current popular culture - but, it is very unenjoyable work for me. I saw that "Who Killed Garrett Phillips?" had a Metascore of 84 and I felt I owed it to myself to give a reality-docu-drama another try... at least one scored so highly by so many knowledgeable individuals. I have watched the first 24 minutes. I am so intensely bored I cannot stand to watch another minute. I am in physical pain from boredom. I must stop watching. Maybe if I continued to watch I would find out why professional critics like this show - but, I just can't take anymore. So - assuming that 90% of Americans have watched at least a couple of episodes of the TV series "Law & Order" - how do they compare? "Who Killed Garrett Phillips?" is "reality TV" and therefore has normal, real people as the primary characters and they are therefore not as interesting as professional, charismatic Hollywood quality actors. Just how uninteresting are these normal-reality characters? To, me I would avoid any of them at a standup social event. I would go to the bathroom if that's what I had to do to keep from getting trapped into a conversation with them. They are very nice normal people who no one would want to listen to for more than a short amount of time. And to me - that's the problem with reality TV and "Who Killed Garrett Phillips?"
Feb 4, 2023
0
It’s very clear who killed that poor kid. It wasn’t Nick! It was the sheriff…Tandy’s ex boyfriend who was upset that she left him for an African American.
