What “Free Chol Soo Lee” lacks in terms of earlier material, it more than compensates for in revealing this underseen historical movement.

| Original Score: B+ | Dec 17, 2022

Beyond the conscientious and dogmatic spirit, Free Chol Soo Lee is a sociopolitical documentary that digs into yesterday to find the footprints that still have an effect today. [Full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 4, 2022

[Ha and Yi] instead tell their story with sober details, having amassed fascinating archival footage of the man, his family and the media storm that surrounded him.

| Sep 27, 2022

The filmmakers never lose sight of the importance of the mass mobilization of ordinary Asian Americans. In the archived footage, the numbers of protestors increased over time, as well as their passion.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Sep 25, 2022

In its clear-eyed empathy for the totality of life, “Free Chol Soo Lee” is only deepened by not ignoring what happens when the spotlight fades on a righted wrong...

| Aug 25, 2022

Thanks to co-directors Julie Ha and Eugene Yi, this lesson from history gets a timely if conventional retelling. Archive footage and talking heads help depict a complex and weirdly obscure saga that leaves a bitter aftertaste.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 25, 2022

The film's reliance on second-hand material makes it rather impersonal, but it's still a potent tale.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 22, 2022

There’s an entire history of political representation to confront here, in other words, and even when Free Chol Soo Lee doesn’t seem to be taking this problem on in a direct way, the movie’s self-aware deviations from the norm are pronounced.

| Aug 22, 2022

Given the rise of anti-Asian hate crimes and ongoing miscarriages of justice today, Free Chol Soo Lee sadly offers plenty of lessons the world has yet to learn from.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 22, 2022

[An] impressive and wrenchingly sad documentary...

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 21, 2022

The taut film takes us through the story with great economy.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 19, 2022

As we examine the details of Lee’s case, its combination of poverty, social inequality, official indifference, casual racism and plain-old bad luck creates a whirlpool of misfortune that draws us in irresistibly.

| Aug 18, 2022

Channeling the spirit of Sacramento Bee reporter K.W. Lee, who first led the charge for Chol Soo’s exoneration, Ha and Yi embrace detailed reportage, demonstrating the racially biased bunglings of police and judicial procedure.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 18, 2022

The film captures the activist spirit of the 1970s-1980s and the many characters involved in Lee’s story, while refraining from any kind of hagiography of its central character.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 18, 2022

Though operating well within the lines of contemporary true-crime, this focused documentary maintains a sense of disgust that many of its peers only tap intermittently.

| Aug 18, 2022

While this documentary traces a true story in a rather straightforward manner, the important subject matter makes it worth a look.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 17, 2022

What makes the film so engrossing is how much attention the film-makers give to Lee’s complicated life after prison...

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 16, 2022

A gripping, enraging and moving documentary.

| Aug 16, 2022

Free Chol Soo Lee reminds us that when we sit on the sideline and do not actively fight against discrimination and the stereotyping of Asians, real people, such as Chol Soo Lee, suffer.

| Original Score: 8/10 | Aug 15, 2022

Chol Soo Lee’s complicated story deserves to be told; this film does a good job telling it.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 12, 2022