The Witness is a transfixing and emotional documentary, one that shares deep truths about a family, New York City, and America.

| Apr 13, 2021

Because most of the memories of Kitty and the analysis of her death come from men, we feel a little removed from her. It's as emblematic of the film's distanced viewpoint, as the blurry, nearly faceless image we see of Kitty.

| Mar 7, 2019

...unique in its paradoxical ability to provide both a disquilibrating evaluation of the mythic qualities of a famous moral story, and a sense of closure...

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Dec 12, 2018

Skillful, complex, and purposely understated, The Witness succeeds not just as a re-examination of one of the most talked-about crimes in modern memory, but as a very touching, human tale of a brother trying to get to know the sister he lost too soon.

| Jan 23, 2017

"The Witness" is fascinating enough for its careful reporting of the circumstances surrounding the infamous murder, but equally as a study of the impact of crimes on those left behind.

| Jan 23, 2017

An engrossing detective story, an enlightening sociological study, and a heartbreaking story of unreconciled grief, "The Witness" is one of the best documentaries of 2016.

| Jan 23, 2017

It's a quietly effective documentary that works on two levels.

| Original Score: B+ | Jan 23, 2017

For years, the legend of the 38 witnesses has been held up as an example of apathy and disconnect, but The Witness proves that the fabric of humanity is actually so strong, that our ties can endure for decades after our deaths.

| Nov 15, 2016

...potent journalism, but also leaves the faint whiff of reality television.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 1, 2016

By the time [Bill Genovese] hires an actress to walk the same stretch of street in Kew Gardens that Kitty walked that night in 1964, having her scream and wail down footpaths and inside stairwells, I was unsettled. But not in a particularly good way.

| Original Score: C+ | Oct 26, 2016

The film presents Kitty Genovese's identity as an afterthought, turning her living days and nights into incidental details.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Oct 18, 2016

A heart-rending, intensely personal portrait of lingering grief and the way a crime - whether iconic or not - forever transforms the lives of those left behind.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 7, 2016

The result is both a loving homage and a truly thought-provoking redress of history.

| Aug 9, 2016

As Bill starts focusing on Kitty's life, rather than death, the film becomes even better; it's one of the most satisfying documentaries released this year.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jul 29, 2016

In addition to being a meditation on the way media falsehoods agreed upon can impact real life, The Witness is also straight-up research porn.

| Jul 28, 2016

The movie cuts deep on a personal level as well, turning Kitty from a poster child back into a real person.

| Jul 21, 2016

As the documentary goes along, it becomes clear that Kitty's murder is less about what actually happened, and more about the shadow it has continued to cast on Bill.

| Original Score: B | Jul 20, 2016

The Witness achieves something ... vital: restoring its victim into full, breathing life.

| Jul 12, 2016

The filmmakers drop these crucial threads in favour of pursuing Genovese's obsession with reconstructing that fatal morning, and the results, while intriguing (especially in low-key animated scenes), are often less than riveting.

| Jul 7, 2016

"The Witness" makes an encouraging case for the argument that society is not as apathetic as we fear. But it also reveals a troubling phenomenon: our willingness to accept all that we are told as truth.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 30, 2016