There’s no telling the story of Khodorkovsky without telling the story of Russia, and it’s for that reason that Citizen K is rather invaluable to people like this writer, Americans of a certain age who perhaps aren’t well versed in Russian history.

| Jun 6, 2023

So dense you almost want to ask the projectionist to hit the pause button so you can keep up with the machinations of the narrative.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 16, 2020

It never bores, never ceases to impress, and in the current political climate demonstrates that demands for transparency and trust are more pressing than ever.

| Original Score: 4 / 5 | Jul 28, 2020

The Oscar-winning documentarian Alex Gibney tweaks a common documentary formula -- little guy who gets railroaded. This one is the story of a giant who got railroaded. In Russia, billionaires are victims of gross injustice too.

| Jul 23, 2020

Trust me on this, it is a fascinating story. One more urgent and important to understand than any spy thriller or fictional drama could ever be.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | May 7, 2020

Citizen K is riveting, informative, and a bit terrifying. It's a significant documentary.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Mar 3, 2020

Even if Gibney's film essentially offers the view of Khodorkovsky that he himself promotes, it also provides an engrossing overview of the post-Soviet Russian history in which Vladimir Putin plays such an oversized role.

| Original Score: B | Feb 18, 2020

Gibney, with his usual efficiency and intelligence, lays out the timeline of Khodorkovsky's rise and fall with a ton of research, arresting visuals, and rock-solid interviews.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Feb 14, 2020

Convoluted and full of intrigue, director Alex Gibney's documentary Citizen K opens a window into post-Soviet Russia.

| Feb 14, 2020

[An] upstanding documentary.

| Feb 10, 2020

Muckraking documentarian Alex Gibney on why Vladimir Putin is so dangerous, via the tale of a Russian oligarch of the post-Soviet era turned dissident. Vital context for the state of the world today.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 6, 2020

The material is well-presented, though sometimes feels second-hand or over-familiar (I've had enough of Vlad performing his off-key version Blueberry Hill at a 2010 charity event.).

| Original Score: B | Feb 5, 2020

Americans may go into "Citizen K" not knowing who this rather anonymous looking man is or how to pronounce or spell his name. But they will come out totally on Team Khodorkovsky.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Feb 5, 2020

Citizen K is a truly fascinating examination of the politics and power plays that have shaped Russia into what it is today...

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 25, 2020

[Director Alex Gibney] is clearly dealing with a subject that fascinates him on a personal level and the result is the best and most impassioned work that he has done in a while.

| Jan 24, 2020

The director can neither bring Khodorkovsky to life as a villain nor convince us that he's a hero.

| Jan 24, 2020

Gibney, maybe, should have given us two, companion docs - one on the former oligarch and another on the most dangerous man in the world,

| Original Score: B- | Jan 23, 2020

a fascinating piece of work, at once a highly unusual biopic and a solid primer on recent Russian history.

| Original Score: B+ | Jan 23, 2020

Gibney appears to have had complete access to Khodorkovsky in recent years, and although the business tycoon is clearly meant to be the protagonist of this story, Gibney doesn't exactly fawn over him or give him a pass .

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 23, 2020

There's a lot to take in, but it is all presented in a cogent manner with plenty of first-hand accounts to support the narrative.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Jan 23, 2020