20 Days in Mariupol is the most heartbreaking and urgent thing you can see now...[Full review in Spanish]

| Feb 11, 2025

An intense film with little respite even when no bullets are being fired.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Apr 16, 2024

This film is horrible, searing, a pristine example of objectivity; it is shockingly graphic. It should be taught in every journalism school, watched in every living room.

| Mar 18, 2024

Courageous reporting of the horrors of the Russian invasion of Ukraine by journalists on the ground as a city is destroyed.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Mar 17, 2024

Chernov and his small crew put their lives on the line to record the destruction of Mariupol. ... The results reveal the senseless cruelty that comes with war in general, and this conflict in particular. Why this movie is essential should be self-evident.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Mar 16, 2024

The act of editing all this footage down to about an hour and a half has to have been hugely challenging, but the result is outstanding.

| Feb 29, 2024

A pacey and immersive feat of first-hand reportage that uses its humble cinematic tools to remarkable effect.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Feb 20, 2024

Like many documentaries about conflicts still unfolding at the time of premiere, 20 Days in Mariupol is both essential and far from perfect.

| Original Score: B | Feb 2, 2024

Yes, it's another harrowing call for audiences to bear witness. To have it told by those who documented it and risked their lives to protect it provides an additional layer that sets it apart.

| Original Score: 8/10 | Jan 26, 2024

The film is a cinematic tour de force that transcends the boundaries of traditional documentary-making, delivering a visceral and unforgettable account of war. 20 Days in Mariupol stands as one of the most impactful documentaries of our time.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Jan 25, 2024

The dramatic soundtrack is probably the only dissonant and unnecessary component in an extremely brave and essential documentary that is dedicated to portraying the horror of a specific city and its population... [Full review in Spanish]

| Jan 19, 2024

Chernov reaches a cinematic dimension in some of his scenes that distance his work from being a mere news report. [Full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 17, 2024

The filmmaker Mstyslav Chernov... does not simply dispassionately film things. He brings us in on his thought process, lets us behind the scenes.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jan 12, 2024

The unfolding devastation is painful to watch.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Jan 12, 2024

[Chernov] communicates a sense of what it’s like when your home becomes a battlefield and the aggressors claim it’s all fake news.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Jan 4, 2024

Painful watch of Russia's barbaric invasion in 2022 of the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.

| Original Score: B+ | Jan 4, 2024

A blistering indictment of war in general, as well as the crimes committed by the Russian army during the siege of Mariupol. It also shows the waste of war in terms of lives lost and property destruction. This movie is what journalism is all about.

| Original Score: A | Dec 10, 2023

20 Days at Mariupol is a relentless, sobering film that should be seen by anyone who actually cares about the state of the world.

| Original Score: A | Dec 1, 2023

"Incidents that received mere seconds and soundbites in news reports play out in extended, uncensored takes jaggedly filmed under fire, making the destruction seem an order of magnitude worse than what short headlines could reveal..."

| Oct 12, 2023

Ukrainian reporter Mstyslav Chernov has stitched together an almost overwhelming document of a city, and its people, dying over three brutal weeks.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 10, 2023