Disturbing stuff, there’s hope, still, in his spirited recovery.

| Dec 31, 2024

Any wider commentary on reality television or stardom, not that much is attempted, is subsumed by the brutality of Asubi’s nightmare, leaving the viewer to shoulder his burden with no sign of reprieve.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 11, 2024

EVER felt sorry for the fame-hungry stars of Love Island, Big Brother or I’m A Celebrity? Well, that feeling will be banished forever after watching documentary The Contestant...

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 3, 2024

The story itself is interesting enough; the film just should have tried to explore the deeper and more disturbing questions behind what people will do for fame.

| Nov 30, 2024

The Contestant is a constantly entertaining and thought-provoking examination of ethics in media. Its only downside is that it doesn’t go further with what it wants to say.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 28, 2024

The film tries to make this a heartwarming Hollywood redemption, but it’s not particularly compelling or convincing, and there’s no real discussion of this pop-culture Stanford Experiment.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Nov 26, 2024

Although it is by no means an easy watch, this documentary is a fascinating time capsule into a craze that is as confounding as it is angering.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Nov 20, 2024

Although the film's talking heads and clips sometimes have the feel of a 온라인카지노추천 special, Hamatsu and his story are so remarkable you'll scarcely believe what you're seeing.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 25, 2024

Clair Titley’s documentary The Contestant will leave viewers stunned, even if they think they know the whole story behind it.

| Original Score: 8/10 | Jul 24, 2024

The Contestant provides a clear summary of this strange story, but with a good deal more psychological detail than was provided in the original show.

| Original Score: B- | Jul 17, 2024

In spite of the guilty voyeuristic lure of a naked guy who doesn’t know he’s being filmed, the wacky framing, and the big, bright uplift of the ending, this movie is as frightening as any of the doomsaying docs of the last few decades.

| Original Score: 83/100 | Jun 14, 2024

The Contestant can’t help but be a captivating watch, that entertains and repulses in ways that few documentaries do.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 10, 2024

Equal parts gripping, compelling, and disturbing, this documentary exposes the darker side of reality television -- and human nature.

| May 23, 2024

[The Contestant] puts a mirror on the audience, showcasing the depravity of a society that is willing to watch the deterioration of another person and gain enjoyment from their torment, strictly under the guise of entertainment.

| May 23, 2024

What’s most remarkable about The Contestant now is how its subject managed to regain his faith in human nature, despite everything he endured.

| May 20, 2024

It raises a lot of ethical questions, for sure, though many viewers will find themselves watching in what is surely a similarly voyeuristic way the second time around as the documentary airs the most outrageous original footage.

| May 14, 2024

The Contestant is a harrowing and humanizing exploration of a bizarre Japanese 온라인카지노추천 program. It's a compelling documentary in the way that true crime podcasts or car crashes are. You know you’re witnessing something awful, but you simply can’t look away.

| Original Score: 8/10 | May 9, 2024

The Contestant is a standard-grade documentary buoyed mightily by its subject—no harm in that.

| Original Score: B- | May 9, 2024

"The Contestant" casts "Susunu! Denpa Shōnen" as a veritable Big Bang for our current shock-value pop culture, and not flatteringly.

| May 9, 2024

It’s the story of Nasubi’s post-온라인카지노추천 life that elevates “The Contestant” from a chronicle of exploitation to a tale of resilience and reinvention.

| May 9, 2024