Power

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2:18

Power

R

2024

1h 25m

Documentary

History

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

79%

Tomatometer

39 Reviews

47%

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Driven to contain threats to social order, American policing has exploded in scope and scale over hundreds of years. Now, it can be described by one word: power.

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Critics Consensus

Packing in a ton of archival material into a sleek documentary, Power achieves impressive breadth if not depth in outlining far-reaching systemic issues.

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Dan Einav

Financial Times

May 23, 2024

4/5

[Power] delivers a searing, searching survey of the history of American policing and the pervasive issues that have allowed countless officers across the nation to intimidate and brutalise citizens under a banner of “law and order”.

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Brian Lowry

CNN.com

May 17, 2024

“Power” makes an intellectual argument, but it’s built on a visceral foundation, purposefully bleeding from past generations into the current one.

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Robert Abele

Los Angeles Times

May 13, 2024

“Power” could just as easily have benefited from the docuseries treatment, but even at less than 90 minutes, it lands plenty of hard truths and harder questions.

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Mary Ann Brussat

Spirituality & Practice

Jan 9, 2025

4.5/5

A fact-filled and emotionally shocking documentary on how police power has expanded exponentially over the years.

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Abe Friedtanzer

The Film Experience

Jul 24, 2024

B+

This film serves as a strong complement to other eye-opening examinations of race in American history like Stamped from the Beginning and Driving While Black. Ford has assembled a thorough history lesson while also remaining grounded in the present.

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Chuck Bowen

Style Weekly (Richmond, VA)

Jul 10, 2024

One can be sympathetic to these points and still find “Power” to be a scattershot TED Talk in cinematic clothing.

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James G

@RT78463537 Jun 5, 2024

Smells like bacon and boot in the audience rating section..

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Michael W

@mawilps May 23, 2024

This documentary was pretty good. The entire crew did a pretty good job on talking about the history of policing and what it's like in today. It really makes you wonder if you can ever trust a cop again. If you haven't seen this documentary yet, check it out sometime. It's worth it.

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Honest D

@RT10468612 May 20, 2024

Alarming documentary. Everyone should see this.

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Chris H

@RT60525826 May 20, 2024

An important history of the nature and purposes of policing in the US (or anywhere else perhaps). Shocking in places and overall very depressing. Watch it though.

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Sal D

@JustTheLaw May 19, 2024

Biting, insightful but not condescending look at the issues, from a multidimensional perspective, with policing in America.

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Yance Ford

Director

Sweta Vohra

Producer

Jess Devaney

Producer

Yance Ford

Producer

Netsanet Negussie

Producer

Anya Rous

Executive Producer

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Synopsis

Driven to contain threats to social order, American policing has exploded in scope and scale over hundreds of years. Now, it can be described by one word: power.

Director: Yance Ford
Producer: Sweta Vohra, Jess Devaney, Yance Ford, Netsanet Negussie
Distributor: Netflix
Production Co: Multitude Films
Rating: R
Genre: Documentary, History
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 10, 2024, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): May 17, 2024
Runtime: 1h 25m

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