The Donut King is replete with lively, energetic characters and important social history, but I think the filmmaker could have drawn from her material more insight into the American Dream.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 23, 2022

[An] overly long documentary that, while interesting, skips over some important details in the past decade or so of Ngoy’s life.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | May 26, 2022

The movie intellectually stimulated me; it also made me hungry as hell.

| Jun 2, 2021

A fine if erratic documentary anchored in a food-business phenomenon.

| Jun 1, 2021

Gu keeps The Donut King an upbeat affair.

| Original Score: 3.0/4.0 | Jan 26, 2021

It's a dizzying saga of ups and downs, and of one of this nation's most beloved sweet treats, and a fascinating tale of sacrifice, success, and hubris.

| Nov 29, 2020

[I]t's a fine yarn spiced up with moments of hip hop, animation and pop culture references, all packaged nicely in something like the hot-pink doughnut boxes that the cruller maestro Ngoy supposedly invented.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 26, 2020

Director Alice Gu uses some creative editing choices to reveal a shocking twist to the life story of a fast food entrepreneur, before stickhandling a sweet ending to her documentary.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Nov 20, 2020

Not all of these elements sit comfortably together, based upon the film's structure and some rushed tonal transitions. Yet it's the strength of the story, and its twists, that sustains the piece, and it's a laudable effort.

| Nov 20, 2020

It's as layered as a cronut and just as admirable and innovative of a creation.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Nov 17, 2020

It's incredible watching him be so honest and positive about the complete breakdown of his professional and personal worlds.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 17, 2020

"The Donut King" is thorough, rich in context if a bit beautified in places, and definitely well shot and edited. The only problem (kind of) is that the viewers will probably run to the closest donut shop as soon as the movie is over.

| Nov 13, 2020

Demonstrates how there's never truly a simple rags-to-riches story.

| Nov 12, 2020

Ted Ngoy, his wife and family pick up the story and walk us through their unbelievable experience, flying to a strange new country where they didn't speak our language and had to start life anew. We follow their path to success beyond their wildest dreams

| Nov 10, 2020

It's a brutally honest take, and all the delicious donuts can't take away from the reality.

| Nov 2, 2020

The story behind the documentary "The Donut King" is large and it contains multitudes.

| Nov 2, 2020

Not only is it a fascinating portrait of this particular Cambodian refugee, Ted Ngoy, but it also is about the culture of doughnut shops in L.A., which are so iconic.

| Oct 30, 2020

It becomes this global story about immigration, ambition, hope, community -- and it's got a really terrific soundtrack.

| Oct 30, 2020

Even if visual gimmicks threaten to derail the film's focus, Ngoy makes a captivating subject. The result is a timely cinematic treat.

| Oct 30, 2020

A heartwarming albeit scattered documentary.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 30, 2020