The Road To Guantanamo (2006)
87%RT Audience Score: 83%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
4 wins & 6 nominations total
The Road to Guantánamo is a film that will leave you feeling as though you’ve been through the wringer, but in the best possible way. Winterbottom’s decision to use re-enactments instead of a traditional documentary format allows for a more visceral and emotional experience, while still managing to make a powerful political statement. The film is a damning indictment of the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, and the sly insights into the Bush administration’s “long war” are both timely and incisive. While not without its flaws, The Road to Guantánamo is a must-see for anyone interested in the intersection of politics and human rights.
The Road to Guantánamo is a film that will make you want to pull your hair out, but in a good way. It’s not your typical documentary, but it still manages to get its point across. The re-enactments are so convincing that you forget you’re not watching the real thing. And let’s be real, who doesn’t love a good indictment of the way prisoners are treated at Guantanamo? It’s a grueling watch, but it’s worth it to see the sly insights into Bush’s “long war.” Plus, if we ever felt like the soldiers and interrogators seen here were in any way human, Winterbottom and Whitecross’ indictment of their behavior would hit twice as hard.
Production Company(ies)
Ferndale Films, Granada Television, Hell’s Kitchen Films,
Distributor
NA
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Iran
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for language and disturbing violent content
Year of Release
2006
-
Color:Color
-
Sound mix:Dolby Digital
-
Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
-
Runtime:NA
-
Language(s):English, Urdu
-
Country of origin:United Kingdom
-
Release date:Release Date (Streaming): Oct 24, 2006
Genre(s)
Drama/War
Keyword(s)
directed by Michael Winterbottom, Mat Whitecross, written by Michael Winterbottom, produced by Andrew Eaton, Melissa Parmenter, starring Riz Ahmed, Farhad Harun, Waqar Siddiqui, Afran Usman, Shahid Iqbal, Mark Holden, drama, war, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Paul Arthur, Andrew O’Hehir, John Hartl, Carrie Rickey, Robert Denerstein, Lisa Kennedy, Alberto Abuín, Jonathan Raban, Emanuel Levy, Fernando F Croce, Cole Smithey, MPAA rating R, torture, Guantanamo, Muslim friends, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Taliban, U.S military justice, documentary, agitprop, character study, political documentary, national humiliation, Geneva Convention, legal protocol, soldiers, interrogators
Worldwide gross: $1,513,033
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $2,231,205
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,384
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 243,316
US/Canada gross: $326,876
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $482,030
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,333
US/Canada opening weekend: $61,138
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $90,158
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,974
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): £1,500,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Farhad Harun – Ruhel
Waqar Siddiqui – Monir
Afran Usman – Asif
Shahid Iqbal – Zahid
Mark Holden – Kandahar Interrogator
Michael Winterbottom – Director
Mat Whitecross – Director
Andrew Eaton – Producer
Melissa Parmenter – Producer
Director(s)
Michael Winterbottom, Mat Whitecross
Writer(s)
NA
Producer(s)
Andrew Eaton, Melissa Parmenter
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
4 wins & 6 nominations total
Academy Awards
All Critics (97) | Top Critics (36) | Fresh (83) | Rotten (14)
Winterbottom sidesteps obligations associated with documentary filmmaking in favor of blazing agitprop.
March 28, 2018
Paul Arthur
Film Comment Magazine
TOP CRITIC
The Road to Guantánamo will drive you crazy, if you aren’t crazy yet.
October 7, 2006
Andrew O’Hehir
Salon.com
TOP CRITIC
It makes its point in a way that a straight documentary could not.
July 7, 2006 | Rating: 3.5/4
John Hartl
Seattle Times
TOP CRITIC
While not an altogether convincing character study of the three detainees, Guantanamo is a nonetheless chilling indictment.
July 7, 2006 | Rating: 2.5/4
Carrie Rickey
Philadelphia Inquirer
TOP CRITIC
Offers a gripping rebuke of the way prisoners are treated at Guantanamo, even though it never entirely settles important questions about what the Tipton Three might have been up to.
July 7, 2006 | Rating: B
Robert Denerstein
Denver Rocky Mountain News
TOP CRITIC
Winterbottom’s re-enactors do a persuasive job of depicting young men whose ad hoc decision to travel from Pakistan to Afghanistan put them solidly in the wrong-place/wrong-time category.
July 7, 2006 | Rating: 3/4
Lisa Kennedy
Denver Post
TOP CRITIC
A very good movie that was initially made for television. [Full Review in Spanish]
June 28, 2019
Alberto Abuín
Espinof
Grueling as it is to watch, and it’s the most protracted ninety-minute movie I’ve ever seen, it is packed with sly insights into Bush’s “long war,” hitherto known as the global war on terror.
August 21, 2018
Jonathan Raban
The New York Review of Books
Timely political documentary that resolves one set of issues while rsiaing others.
July 13, 2011 | Rating: B
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
The director’s slovenliness is a torture device of its own, but the grueling point is well taken
August 30, 2009
Fernando F. Croce
CinePassion
Director Michael Winterbottom brings us face-to-face with the national humiliation of Guantanamo prison where the Geneva Convention and legal protocol have been disposed of like the now-filthy rivers of our country.
April 23, 2009 | Rating: A
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com
If we ever felt like the soldiers and interrogators seen here were in any way human, Winterbottom and Whitecross’ indictment of their behavior would hit twice as hard.
February 1, 2008 | Rating: 6.5/10
Karina Longworth
Cinematical…
Plot
A group of British Muslim friends attend a wedding in Pakistan, but end up mistakenly in a Taliban stronghold and are captured and sent to a U.S. military base in Cuba where they endure torture in “The Road to Guantanamo.”
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Nothing to add here about The Road to Guantanamo.
Michael-Winterbottom.jpg
