An exhilarating... historical documentary that unfolds with the pace and complexity of a thriller.

| Sep 10, 2020

Coup 53 is stranger than fiction and a terrifying reminder that the past never goes away.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 3, 2020

[Amirani] transforms sifting through dusty plastic bags and filing cabinets into a thrilling detective case...

| Original Score: 5/5 | Sep 3, 2020

With admirable tenacity and care, Amirani has dragged official secrets back into the light.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 3, 2020

Part political drama, part history lesson, part gripping spy thriller, Coup 53 gives what has been relegated to a small footnote in Iran's story the big, expansive, dramatic treatment it deserves.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 3, 2020

A documentary with the crackle of a spy thriller.

| Sep 1, 2020

With legendary film editor Walter Murch (Apocalypse Now, The English Patient) on hand as editor and co-writer, Coup 53 always tells a complex story clearly.

| Aug 24, 2020

A maddening, gripping portrait of how imperialism works.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 24, 2020

Even if much of the material is common knowledge, the momentum of the plot can hardly fail to engross...

| Aug 21, 2020

Coup 53 is a historical documentary that plays more like All the President's Men had it been written by John le Carré with a dash of Costa-Gavras and Manchurian Candidate John Frankenheimer.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 20, 2020

As history lessons go, this is a powerful one in which a wealth of interviews and stunning graphics have been pulled together, with extraordinary attention to detail, into an intricate but lucid whole.

| Aug 20, 2020

What a riveting story: a grim curtain-raiser to today's tragedies. .

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 20, 2020

As enlightening as "Coup 53" is as a secret history, it's even more satisfying as an aesthetic exercise, treating viewers to one of cleverest workarounds in cinematic problem-solving in recent memory.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Aug 19, 2020

Across time and space, a single, consistent story emerges. For a narrative shrouded in subterfuge, that's a considerable achievement.

| Aug 19, 2020

Coup 53 is worth seeing, but its general effect on this viewer was to seek out more books, rather than movies, on the subject.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 19, 2020

Watching this thrilling, energetic doc feels like taking a swim in John le Carré's brain.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 18, 2020

Once Taghi Amirani turns his attention to the coup itself, his film snaps into shape, with Walter Murch skillfully knitting together new and old interviews to lay out the story in highly dramatic form.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 17, 2020

This is not some dry piece of historical revision. Amirani's passion is palpable from the start and he peppers his film with twists and reveals that would make John le Carré smile.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 12, 2020

Obsessive and yet bracingly clear-minded, albeit anything but tidy, the film will enthrall documentary and history geeks.

| Sep 5, 2019

It's hard to blame Amirani for the excess when he has an embarrassment of riches at his disposal after a decade of meticulous research and logistical setbacks, both financial and personal.

| Sep 4, 2019