In this twisty, provocative hybrid documentary, filmmakers Jazmin Renée Jones and Olivia McKayla Ross set out to answer one set of burning questions and instead find themselves navigating a much thornier journey of artistic discovery and reclamation.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 13, 2024

Seeking a woman denied a voice, Jones has made herself the star of her own film, doing all sorts of things, like roller skating and consulting a tarot reader, that will make doc purists clutch their pearls, a sidelong pleasure of the piece.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Sep 12, 2024

“Seeking Mavis Beacon” makes the lows as meaningful as the highs, endorsing a wild web world in which mystery and exposure can peacefully coexist.

| Sep 6, 2024

A documentary that reflects the state of the Internet as it stands, and as it turns a mirror on its makers.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 2, 2024

“Seeking Mavis Beacon” still goes down smoothly, at least until its conclusion; while other films tie up too neatly, this one could use a bow at all.

| Aug 29, 2024

In pursuing a Don Quixote-like goal, they uncover surprising details along the way about subjects that obsess them. As investigators, they are tenacious and relentless; as filmmakers they are exciting and determined.

| Jun 12, 2024

Projects like these could easily tip over into self-indulgence, but while the filmmaker is very much the protagonist, the personal touches included don’t overwhelm the story.

| Original Score: B+ | Jan 30, 2024

The film proves itself incapable of or unwilling to follow through on its ideas to an ultimate conclusion.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Jan 30, 2024

Depending on your patience for whimsy, Seeking Mavis Beacon might inspire exasperation or admiration. For this critic, it was, for the most part, the latter.

| Jan 23, 2024

Thought provoking, bold, and vulnerable, you can’t help but cherish its early ambition as a necessary act of historical preservation.

| Jan 23, 2024

This journey is more than just worthwhile. It’s powerful and it’s a joy.

| Jan 21, 2024