Mr. Rithy Panh makes telling use of a survivor whose ability to communicate lends itself to the subject. The tragedy is that Mr. Vann Nath's powers are used to illuminate these horrors.
80
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
S21 is understated and unforgettable; in its modest way, this movie is as horrific an exposure to evil as Lanzmann's "Shoah."
80
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Shattering documentary.
75
New York PostV.A. Musetto
New York PostV.A. Musetto
Man's inhumanity to man is gruesomely detailed in S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine.
70
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
A harrowing, unblinking look at the crimes committed by the Khmer Rouge, the genocidal regime that by some accounts killed off more than a quarter of Cambodia's population between 1975 and 1979.
60
Chicago Reader
Chicago Reader
The efforts of victims and victimizers to come to terms with historical trauma are admirable, but the film is too tough-minded to espouse a facile discourse of "healing" in the face of genocide driven by ideology run amok.
60
Film ThreatPhil Hall
Film ThreatPhil Hall
This is clearly not a pleasant film to watch on many levels.
50
VarietyDerek Elley
VarietyDerek Elley
There's no shortage of existing docus on the subject, and Panh's doesn't bring either a fresh enough angle or enough new material to the table to justify its length.