The filmmaker doesn't actually hold these foolish humans' emotions, longings and aspirations in contempt...

| Jul 1, 2021

Nim is obviously a sentient being and also a wild animal. While not making a villain out of just one person, Marsh reflects on how we tend to treat animals in general. It's a heartbreaking doc and one of the year's best.

| Mar 21, 2021

Sleek editing and a wealth of archival footage unveil a sad, and thought-provoking tale of humans overstepping their reach in the name of science without regard to the well being of other living creatures.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 19, 2020

Easily one of 2011's best documentaries.

| Original Score: 3.5/4.0 | Sep 20, 2020

By turns funny, sad and frightening, this documentary is Dickensian tale of an epic experiment that made a minor celebrity of a chimpanzee named Nim.

| Aug 19, 2019

A harrowing and intensely powerful tale of an animal who was perhaps more human than the actual humans around him.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Aug 5, 2019

It's an all too familiar human story: irresponsible people put in charge of the life of an innocent.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 8, 2019

Project Nim tells a moving story.

| Nov 5, 2018

This is a compelling and engrossing film but, like I said, it's not pretty, and it will break your heart. It broke my heart and, I'm not going to lie, I full-on wept.

| Aug 31, 2018

If Disney started up a documentary division the they would probably have a similar tone to the hackneyed, tired, saccharin approach that Marsh has taken to tell what is actually a profoundly disturbing story.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 29, 2018

As Nim is heralded, befriended, sold, rescued, refuted, forgotten and more, his epic cautionary tale thoughtfully examines the inherent dangers of man trying to remake his fellow creatures in his own image.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Aug 8, 2018

The film has various archival footage, old photos and many dialogues, full of tragedy.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 2, 2017

Just like he did in Man on Wire, James Marsh tells this story in a fluid and organic manner. [Full review in Portuguese]

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 21, 2016

I was rooting for the film to end with a shot of the Statue of Liberty on a beach.

Full Review | May 3, 2015

This smart doc should prove the perfect summer antidote to most of summer's films that require you to turn your brain off to enjoy them.

| Original Score: B | Jul 10, 2013

If there's one thing Marsh knows, it's how to reach your deepest emotions. He did it with 'Man on Wire,' and he does it again here.

| Original Score: A | May 25, 2013

A fascinating, unflinching and tragic documentary about the chimpanzee we tried to make human.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 4, 2013

A tragic chronicle of animal abuse.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Feb 20, 2012

Like an orphan out of Dickens, Nim is a sorrowful figure buffeted by the winds of the greedy, selfish and more powerful...

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Feb 7, 2012

One of the 10 best films of 2011.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jan 16, 2012