The Act Of Killing (2013)
91%RT Audience Score: 85%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 1 Oscar
55 wins & 46 nominations total
Raw, terrifying, and painfully difficult to watch, The Act of Killing offers a haunting testament to the edifying, confrontational power of documentary cinema.
The Act of Killing is a documentary that will leave you feeling like you just got hit by a truck, but in a good way. It’s like watching a car crash in slow motion, except the car is full of war criminals and the crash is their own conscience. The film is a masterpiece of storytelling and filmmaking, and it will make you question everything you thought you knew about justice and morality. Plus, it’s got some pretty trippy visuals that will blow your mind. Definitely not a feel-good movie, but a must-watch for anyone who cares about the human condition.
Production Company(ies)
Columbia Pictures, Relativity Media, Scott Rudin Productions,
Distributor
Drafthouse Films
Release Type
Streaming, Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia
MPAA / Certificate
Not Rated
Year of Release
2012
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:2h 2m
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Language(s):Indonesian, English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jul 19, 2013 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 1, 2014
Genre(s)
Documentary/Biography
Keyword(s)
starring, directed by, written by, documentary, biography, war, Indonesia, mass executions, communism, Joshua Oppenheimer, Anne Köhncke, Signe Byrge Sørensen, Werner Herzog, Errol Morris, Drafthouse Films, critic reviews, MPAA rating, box office performance, budget, producer names, horrifying, confrontational, power, haunting, testament, edifying, raw, terrifying, painful, difficult, watch, original, staggering, innovative, powerful, breathtaking, daring, candy-colored, moral, migraine, existential, nausea, astonishing, profound, cathartic, chilling, offensive, inhumane, Danish mondo film, twisted agenda, absurd, compelling, shocking, unbelievable
Worldwide gross: $726,324
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $936,395
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,612
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 102,115
US/Canada gross: $486,919
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $627,748
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,279
US/Canada opening weekend: $27,450
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $35,389
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,318
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $1,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $1,289,224
Production budget ranking: 2,070
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $694,247
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$1,047,077
ROI to date (est.): -53%
ROI ranking: 1,708
Jusuf Kalla – self
Joshua Oppenheimer – Director
Werner Herzog – Executive Producer
Errol Morris – Executive Producer
Anne Köhncke – Producer
Director(s)
Joshua Oppenheimer
Writer(s)
NA
Producer(s)
Anne Köhncke, Signe Byrge Sørensen
Film Festivals
South by Southwest, Tribeca, Telluride, Toronto
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 1 Oscar
55 wins & 46 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees
All Critics (160) | Top Critics (61) | Fresh (152) | Rotten (8)
The Act of Killing is the only 100% original work of cinema to come out this year.
February 21, 2019 | Rating: 5/5
Scott Marks
San Diego Reader
TOP CRITIC
If Oppenheimer’s aim is to question and investigate what life the past has in the present, he has succeeded in a staggeringly original way.
January 3, 2019 | Rating: 5/5
Dave Calhoun
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
[An] innovative piece of filmmaking so breathtakingly daring and powerful, it replaces your oxygen with awe.
September 5, 2017 | Rating: 5/5
Larushka Ivan-Zadeh
metro.co.uk
TOP CRITIC
Once you grasp just what is being enacted on the screen, The Act of Killing becomes something like a candy-colored moral migraine. An existential nausea is inevitable.
December 31, 2015
J. Hoberman
Tablet
TOP CRITIC
The shock of the final scene must be left unspoken; suffice to say its impact exceeds even the nightmarish queasiness which this brilliant and horrible film has striven to contain.
December 16, 2013 | Rating: 4/5
Anthony Quinn
Independent (UK)
TOP CRITIC
The emotionally manipulative use of some of the material raises all kinds of questions about veracity.
December 16, 2013
Tony Rayns
Sight & Sound
TOP CRITIC
The results are astonishing, terrifying and eventually profound, as the men start to confront their own pasts.
August 23, 2021
Graeme Tuckett
Stuff.co.nz
The bloodbath and coup in Indonesia were the outcome of the drive by US imperialism to gain control of the natural and strategic resources of the archipelago, known as the “Jewel of Asia.”
February 27, 2021
Joanne Laurier
World Socialist Web Site
The Act of Killing might be the most powerful and cathartic documentary I’ve ever seen.
February 24, 2021
Dustin Chang
Floating World
Demonstrates with chilling authenticity that nobody thinks they’re the bad guys.
December 3, 2020 | Rating: 10/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
Everything that occurs in The Act of Killing is outrageous and offensive and inhumane.
September 1, 2020 | Rating: 4.0/4.0
Richard Propes
TheIndependentCritic.com
There are few films that have legitimately left a chill down my spine. The Act of Killing is one of them.
July 27, 2020 | Rating: A+
Allen Almachar
The MacGuffin…
Plot
A documentary which challenges former Indonesian death-squad leaders to reenact their mass-killings in whichever cinematic genres they wish, including classic Hollywood crime scenarios and lavish musical numbers.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The cast and crew section for The Act of Killing includes executive producers Werner Herzog and Errol Morris.
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