Lear's attention to both bureaucracy and behavior helps to make the film both intellectually satisfying and emotionally resonant.

| Original Score: 3.0/4.0 | Sep 26, 2020

A powerful documentary... They Call Us Monsters raises many thoughts for discussion long after the curtains fall and the prison doors slam shut on these juvenile offenders.

| Nov 3, 2019

The film feels like a well-meaning but inadequate knee jerk response to a problem far bigger than the one offered here.

| Original Score: C | Feb 8, 2018

There is an enormous contrast between the juveniles, as seen in their prison and courtroom settings, and the scenes which show the severity of the crimes committed.

| Original Score: C+ | Jan 25, 2018

These three lives presented offer unique circumstances, but Monsters is quietly provocative, illuminating some of those caught up in an imperfect system of imprisoning juveniles.

| Dec 19, 2017

With its category-defying pastiche of stakeholder perspectives, it feels less like a heavy-handed work of advocacy than a quiet meditation on a difficult truth many of us would prefer to ignore: Evil knows no age restrictions.

| Aug 8, 2017

Tighter editing might have made this a great movie, rather than just a good one. The material is there. But They Call Us Monsters nevertheless helps us better understand the eternal conundrum of family-loving teens who turn into violent threats ...

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Feb 2, 2017

Even if you agree with the film's argument that teenagers shouldn't be locked up for life when there are other ways to save them, "Monsters" doesn't offer a convincing argument that a screenwriting class is that lifeline.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Feb 2, 2017

There's little doubt prison reform needs to address the severe effects of locking up kids for life, but "They Call Us Monsters" feels like a well-meaning skim rather than an impassioned, expertly reasoned plea for mercy.

| Jan 26, 2017

No matter which side of the issue you come down on, and no matter how engaging these young fellows can seem, the truth is they are where they need to be.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Jan 25, 2017

Eye-opening, heartfelt and illuminating.

| Original Score: 9/10 | Jan 21, 2017

There's a considerable amount of catharsis in They Call Us Monsters, but it is bittersweet at best.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jan 21, 2017

While Ben Lear's documentary is reasonably clear about its own position on the issue, the film's material is so thin that it provides few reasons to believe the conclusion it's selling.

| Jan 20, 2017

... provides an even-handed glimpse into the lives of its subjects without preaching or passing judgment.

| Jan 20, 2017

It contains a few unexpected turns, and it's engaging from beginning to end, but in the end, we're left with the crushing sense of story that had only just started picking up speed.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 20, 2017

The movie benefits from an added layer: A screenwriting teacher who gets to know three teenagers awaiting trial.

| Jan 19, 2017

The project's genesis may seem opportunistic, yet it allows Lear to investigate the circumstances surrounding the teenagers' crimes, and their personal stories... raise vexing questions about how the justice system should treat teenage killers.

| Jan 19, 2017

Lear doesn't make the boys saints - there are interviews with their victims - but he does paint a complex portrait of underserved children seemingly destined to end up in prison for life for no better reason than that they had no support.

| Jan 18, 2017

Restrained, sensitive and quietly heartbreaking.

| Original Score: B+ | Jan 13, 2017

Powerful and eye-opening.

| Jan 13, 2017