Darwin (2011)
Average Rating: 7.7/10
Reviews Counted: 10
Fresh: 8 | Rotten: 2
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 4
Fresh: 3 | Rotten: 1
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User Ratings: 38
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Movie Info
Darwin is a documentary film about an isolated community at the end of a weathered road in Death Valley, California. Propelled from society by tragic turns, the people of Darwin (population 35) must now find ways to coexist in a place without a government, a church, jobs, or children. The near-ghost town's survival depends on a fragile, gravity-fed waterline that descends from the mountains where top-secret weapons are being tested. One 'accidental' drop of a bomb, they half-joke, could wipe out
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All Critics (11) | Top Critics (5) | Fresh (8) | Rotten (2) | DVD (1)
A dull place doesn't automatically become worthy of scrutiny when a camera lens is aimed at it.
Top CriticDepending on how you look at it, Darwin is either an affirmative record of proud outliers getting by on true grit or a grim snapshot of a community on its last, buckling legs.
"Darwin" is a beautiful, elegiac work with unexpected impact and meaning.
A droll and dusty portrait of a place where privacy is prized and boundaries respected.
Refusing to patronise the participants of his film, Brandestini's use of a chilling score, beautiful photography and a keen sense of balance makes Darwin a fascinating and charming film.
this alien landscape, shot wide by the Swiss filmmaker with an outsider's eye for the dustily hyperreal, is teeming with strange life and even stranger stories.
As Darwin shows again and again, not talking can be its own form of storytelling.
Illuminating...To its credit, the documentary never leads viewers to laugh at the (eccentric) subjects' expense.
Atmospheric documentary set in Death Valley is surprisingly captivating.
The documentary ultimately doesn't so much flesh out its subjects as slowly tear their Band-Aids off after some administering some putatively good-natured noogies.
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What makes Darwin fascinating is its ambivalence: it is funny but moving, disturbing but captivating. It gives you a look into a world you would never experience otherwise: a ghost town populated by a few misfits who each have incredible stories to tell. A memorable documentary that stands out, especially with its stunning music and cinematography! I highly recommend it.