This is a very effective piece about transphobia that adeptly weaves the story of a truly legendary icon with the problems still facing her community today.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Sep 2, 2021

Almost like a Forrest Gump in the pre-and-post Stonewall (yep, she was there) gay pride movement in NYC, David France's overview provides mystery in her life and death. PRIDE!

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 24, 2021

The Death And Life Of Marsha P. Johnson offers a unique perspective on liberation for gender nonconforming individuals and is an imperative documentary for anyone looking to fully understand the origins and evolution of the LGBT movement.

| Original Score: 9 | Nov 3, 2018

A crucial look at not just the violence against transgender people but the long-fought struggle that trans people have had (and still have) within their own community.

| Aug 27, 2018

The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson leaves questions unanswered, and relaying just what that lack of closure feels like to those who have known a trans person whose death has remained unsolved is precisely the point.

| Jun 13, 2018

The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson is an emotional journey, its true crime elements outweighed by the heavy stories of all the gay and trans activists that fought and died for the rights the community has today.

| Dec 19, 2017

They also highlight Johnson's own story, fleshing it out and colouring in some of the lines of her story.

| Original Score: B | Nov 2, 2017

... the filmmaker illuminates the social differences that prevent trans integration even within the LGBT movement. [Full review in Spanish]

| Oct 28, 2017

Compelling docu traces decades-old LGBTQ fight for justice.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 10, 2017

A searing look at how American society treats the civil rights leaders who put their bodies and their freedom on the line for the greater good, this film stirs a fire for action.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 9, 2017

Even with its flaws, the film is a worthy tribute and a reminder that the fight continues and the march goes on, built on the backs and sacrifices of people like Marsha P. Johnson.

| Oct 7, 2017

Death is what leads the title and drives the movie. But it's her life - vibrant, pioneering, and much too short - that gives Marsha its flamboyant, beautiful heart.

| Original Score: A- | Oct 6, 2017

The movie reminds the viewer how far we've come, but also how far we have yet to go.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 6, 2017

Works powerfully as a rallying cry for tolerance, love and understanding.

| Oct 5, 2017

Along the way, a sobering history of the gay rights movement is rendered through the lens of long-suffering transgender activists.

| Oct 5, 2017

At his best, David France mimics Werner Herzog, with one sequence in particular, a private viewing of Johnson's autopsy photos, echoing "Grizzly Man."

| Original Score: B | Oct 5, 2017

If Marsha P. fades from the film (there is not enough great footage of her, I guess, although enough to suggest she could be irresistible), the sense of vulnerability she projects permeates the rest of the movie.

| Oct 5, 2017

Though this film doesn't give definitive answers on what happened to Ms. Johnson, it keeps her memory alive. That itself is a victory over indifference.

| Oct 5, 2017

It's a bittersweet film: for every strong figure willing to put their life on the line for a bigger cause, there's another who's been beaten or murdered as a direct result for displaying such braveness.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 5, 2017

... a disjointed but essential documentary about two transgender drag queens who were instrumental in the Stonewall Riots of 1969.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 4, 2017