85
Metascore
12 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 91Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyEntertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyTough to watch, but essential.
- 91Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerChristian Science MonitorPeter RainerEdet Belzberg’s documentary Watchers of the Sky, which was a decade in the making, reclaims the reputation of Raphael Lemkin, a Polish Holocaust refugee who not only coined the term “genocide” but also invented the concept of categorizing mass murder as an international crime.
- 90The Hollywood ReporterDuane ByrgeThe Hollywood ReporterDuane ByrgeSad and disturbing, this smartly and conscientiously crafted film is a powerful wake-up call, heard but not yet implemented, by the “civilized” world.
- 90VarietyDennis HarveyVarietyDennis HarveyAn impressive and artful cinematic thesis of palpable substance.
- 90Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlVillage VoiceAlan ScherstuhlAccomplishes the nearly impossible trick of updating viewers on the prevalence of genocide in the 20th and 21st centuries without rubbing our noses in our failure to stop it.
- 80The DissolveKeith PhippsThe DissolveKeith PhippsIt isn’t a hopeful story, but it is a story of how committed people have fought and struggled to create the possibility for hope in the future.
- 75The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyThe title comes from prosecutor Ferencz, who compares his work to that of the 16th-century astronomer Tycho Brahe, who said he watched the sky so future generations could use him as their foundation.
- 70The New York TimesNicolas RapoldThe New York TimesNicolas RapoldWatchers of the Sky is a film that can dash hopes about humanity but also raise them in depicting the stories of these tireless defenders.
- 63Slant MagazineChuck BowenSlant MagazineChuck BowenThis is, to put it mildly, a lot of information for one documentary, which inevitably devolves to resemble not so much an anthology as a slideshow of genocide's greatest hits.