MLK/FBI (2021)
83%RT Audience Score: 67%
Awards & Nominations: 6 wins & 17 nominations
MLK/FBI presents a sobering overview of the American intelligence community’s efforts to discredit and destroy a leader of the civil rights movement
MLK/FBI is a documentary that will make you question everything you thought you knew about Martin Luther King Jr. and the FBI’s surveillance of him. It’s like a history lesson, but with more drama and intrigue. You’ll be on the edge of your seat as you watch the story unfold, and you’ll be left with a newfound appreciation for the sacrifices that were made in the fight for civil rights. Plus, you’ll never look at the FBI the same way again.
Production Company(ies)
HBO Documentary Films, Jigsaw Productions, Sky Atlantic
Distributor
IFC Films
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
MPAA / Certificate
TV-PG
Year of Release
2021
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:NA
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Runtime:1h 42m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jan 15, 2021 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 15, 2021
Genre(s)
Documentary
Keyword(s)
MLK/FBI, documentary, civil rights movement, FBI surveillance, Martin Luther King Jr., J Edgar Hoover, American intelligence, law enforcement agencies, racism, red-baiting paranoia, archival footage, Sam Pollard, Benjamin Hedin, Laura Tomaselli, directed by Samuel D Pollard, produced by Benjamin Hedin, written by Benjamin Hedin and Laura Tomaselli, David Garrow, Donna Murch, Marc Perrusquia, Andrew Young, Beverly Gage, Clarence Jones, critic reviews, MLK/FBI reviews, MLK/FBI rating, MLK/FBI box office, MLK/FBI budget, IFC Films, MPAA rating, MLK/FBI cast and crew, MLK/FBI documentary, MLK/FBI streaming, MLK/FBI rent/buy, MLK/FBI subscription, MLK/FBI movie
Worldwide gross: $91,833
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $99,878
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 3,027
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 10,892
US/Canada gross: $45,200
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $49,160
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,755
US/Canada opening weekend: $21,603
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $23,496
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,456
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
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
Donna Murch – Self
Marc Perrusquia – Self
Andrew Young – Self
Beverly Gage – Self
Clarence Jones – Self
Director(s)
Samuel D. Pollard
Writer(s)
Benjamin Hedin, Laura Tomaselli
Producer(s)
Benjamin Hedin
Film Festivals
Telluride, Toronto
Awards & Nominations
6 wins & 17 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (125) | Top Critics (42) | Fresh (123) | Rotten (2)
While MLK/FBI is expansive and humane, it leaves room for a deeper and more concentrated look at Coretta Scott King as an individual who faced her own enormous challenges as a public figure.
March 9, 2021
Soraya Nadia McDonald
Andscape
TOP CRITIC
It gives the public a full opportunity to understand who King was as a person, a man, a human being…we see his failings, but we also see how great and powerful his movement was…
March 2, 2021
tt stern-enzi
WXIX-TV (Cincinnati, OH)
TOP CRITIC
An eye-opening documentary that poses hard questions and gives no easy answers, MLK/FBI is a worthy addition to the ever-timely media concerning Martin Luther King Jr.
January 22, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Amon Warmann
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
I don’t know that MLK/FBI reveals anything new about its subject, but it clarifies & amplifies facets of his story in a timely way. It couldn’t be more relevant, as a document of history or as a cautionary tale about balancing a public & private existence
January 22, 2021
Leonard Maltin
leonardmaltin.com
TOP CRITIC
What are we going to do with the material itself? It’s a question whose answers remain to be seen. The accomplishment of Pollard’s documentary is that it so capably and persuasively prepares us to ask it.
January 19, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
K. Austin Collins
Rolling Stone
TOP CRITIC
Cleverly uses the FBI’s pursuit of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr to tell the entwined history of leftwing protest and state-sanctioned surveillance.
January 16, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Simran Hans
Observer (UK)
TOP CRITIC
This film offers another example of how past administrations and agencies have worked against voices of equality, and how these conversations remain necessary even to this day.
February 17, 2022 | Rating: 3.5/4
Brian Eggert
Deep Focus Review
MLK/FBI leads us to question whether the governmental overreach it depicts is as safely in the past as some would have us believe.
September 26, 2021
Christopher Bourne
In Review Online
There’s little new information about the FBI’s open racism vs. the civil rights movement, but it’s useful to have it documented in one place.
September 13, 2021
Witney Seibold
Critically Acclaimed Podcast
It is a thorough examination of over a decade of conflict and strife, packaged into a feature film, which is no small feat. But its failure to focus on the FBI investigation and muddying its portrayal of King hurts the overall production.
May 25, 2021 | Rating: 7/10
Noah Schwartz
Film Threat
Downright essential.
May 16, 2021
John Serba
Decider
Sam Pollard’s Martin Luther King deep-dive unearths amazing contemporary footage and previously unseen government files.
April 23, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Paul M. Bradshaw
NME…
Plot
MLK/FBI is a documentary that explores the FBI’s surveillance of Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights movement, shedding light on the government’s efforts to discredit and destroy a leader of the movement.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
There is no goofy or funny or odd comment about the film MLK/FBI on Fresh Kernels.
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