Witnesses Reviews

Spanning a year beginning in the summer of 1984, The Witnesses offers the considerable satisfaction of a beautifully acted ensemble piece built on the foundation of a serious subject%u2014the dawn of the AIDS crisis%u2014handled just so.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4

An engaging if somewhat inchoate drama set in the early years of Aids.

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Bristling with emotional intensity, this is far superior to earlier AIDS-related dramas.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5

A lively, timely flashback to the early days of AIDS with this character-driven drama.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

The occasional voiceover from Béart and a slightly mournful score from Philippe Sarde offer some sense of lament, but mostly this unfolds in the moment and is urgent and engaging.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/6

Téchiné captures the changing attitudes of the times but some characters feel too peripheral.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

Witnesses takes us back to the turmoil in the Balkans. But the movie is not directly about the war. It's a cleverly told murder mystery.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

More than a thriller, the film is a portrait of the passions that drive ordinary people to kill and even worse, to accept the killing as something honorable.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

Bresan captures the atmosphere of the Croatian war effectively and offers an insider's view about the complex situation.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5

Techine never lapses into morbid sentimentality and it's interesting for a film to put the horror of AIDs in the 1980s in the perspective of a viewpoint 20-odd years on.

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