A well-researched cautionary tale of what can befall a nation that allows a familial pack of jackals to loot the resources of a struggling, impoverished country.

| May 22, 2020

It's grimly compelling viewing as Marcos gives filmmaker Lauren Greenfield intimate access to her opulent life and oblivious narcissism.

| Mar 11, 2020

It's almost as if [Lauren Greenfield has] been working up to this; it's a perfectly logical move for her after her last two films.

| Mar 9, 2020

The Kingmaker is a thoroughly entertaining primer on the past, present, and perhaps future of Filipino politics

| Feb 27, 2020

Even with repeated beats, The Kingmaker still begs to be watched. What it lacks in focus it makes up in personality.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 13, 2020

What's interesting about the film is that at the center is this ludicrous, ridiculous figure. As the doc scratches away at this, you see grotesque horror, and I thought that was a very astute way of approaching this.

| Dec 31, 2019

The Kingmaker is less a historical biography than a timely cautionary tale.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Dec 23, 2019

Greenfield is careful to balance the vast shoe collections and showers of banknotes with victim testimony about the notorious period of martial law Imelda's husband imposed on enemies of the state.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 20, 2019

Imelda holds our attention, throughout, even as we marvel at her constitutional inability (or, more likely, unwillingness) to think critically about her misdeeds.

| Dec 19, 2019

It is to Greenfield's credit that she caught the mask of glamour slipping for a second, revealing the hideousness of tyranny underneath it.

| Dec 19, 2019

From her very first simper, I was hooked. Some see Imelda as one of the world's greatest villains. After this tour of her closet, that shoe fits.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Dec 18, 2019

This is documentary as horror story, all the more powerful for its understated nature. Unmissable.

| Dec 16, 2019

Documentarian Lauren Greenfield has an uncanny way of finding enormous resonance in specific stories.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 16, 2019

The Kingmaker is fascinating, horrifying and essential viewing to understand a phenomenon of personality that's both specific and international.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 16, 2019

Greenfield keeps tight control, allowing Marcos to say what she wants, while busily illustrating the opposing perspective.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Dec 16, 2019

Greenfield's portrait is damning.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 15, 2019

This is a scary documentary that illustrates how a country could easily shift from a democracy to a dictatorship.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Dec 13, 2019

It's dark material, expertly handled.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 13, 2019

Both chilling and gruesomely entertaining.

| Dec 13, 2019

brilliantly crafted and profoundly depressing

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 13, 2019