Yusuf Hawkins: Storm Over Brooklyn could have been a very one-sided documentary, but it took the responsible approach of including diverse viewpoints.

| Aug 23, 2020

These different perspectives paint a vivid picture of the Brooklyn of 30 years ago, not very different from the Brooklyn of today.

| Aug 21, 2020

Yusuf Hawkins - Storm Over Brooklyn is an emotional and sensitive examination of racial tensions, grief and political point scoring that is ever present today.

| Aug 20, 2020

It's the gulf between what people said then and now that resonates throughout this documentary, and the blind spots that continue today.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Aug 17, 2020

The film is well balanced, giving both sides of the case a chance to tell their version of events, including Joseph Fama, who was convicted of Hawkin's murder.

| Aug 17, 2020

It's plain that there never was, and can never be, justice in the Hawkins case -- he's gone, and nothing can bring him back. But this powerful film at least gives Hawkins a place in history and helps us understand how awful his death truly was.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 17, 2020

It is not a perfectly executed film -- it fluctuates between powerful and dry, prescient and redundant -- but its worthy subject matter and far-reaching consequences make it another timely, essential watch in 2020.

| Aug 17, 2020

[It] likely won't teach much new to those already familiar with his story... But even for the initiated, it could contribute to ongoing discussions on how to dismantle the American racial divide that is deeply entrenched in our national psyche.

| Original Score: B | Aug 14, 2020

Voices past and present give Storm Over Brooklyn a piercing relevance in the here and now, whether by what they're saying or what they represent.

| Aug 13, 2020

Depicts a version of New York that millennials and zoomers probably know little about, but it does indicate that the racial tension that exploded with the murder of George Floyd has always been there, and will likely not be solved any time soon.

| Aug 13, 2020

The competing agendas surrounding the case would prevent anyone from making a cohesive Hawkins documentary, and "Storm Over Brooklyn" never settles on a satisfying point of view.

| Aug 13, 2020

In addition to creating a documentary with elements of a thriller, director Muta'Ali Muhammad takes a tidy inventory of the people and outrages that made up the political profile of New York at the time.

| Aug 12, 2020

Regrettably, Storm Over Brooklyn is only a rudimentary primer on the case, rather than a particularly comprehensive or insightful one.

| Aug 12, 2020

Muta'Ali Muhammad's documentary focuses on a pivotal time in New York City's history and includes an impressive set of interviews with many of those connected to the event, its consequences and Hawkins' legacy.

| Aug 12, 2020