The Devil Came on Horseback

Released Jul 25, 2007

1 hr. 28 min.

Documentary

List

96%

54 Reviews

Tomatometer

90%

2,500+ Ratings

Audience Score

While serving with the African Union, former Marine Capt. Brian Steidle documents the brutal ethnic cleansing occuring in Darfur. Determined that the Western public should know about the atrocities he is witnessing, Steidle contacts New York Times reporter Nicholas Kristof, who publishes some of Steidle's photographic evidence.

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Critics Consensus

The Devil Came on Horseback is both a strong primer on the complexities of the situation in Darfur and a harrowing first-person doc.

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Audience Member

epic obama with movie in it!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/23/23

Full Review

Audience Member

2/24/14 This film dramatically shows so much of what is wrong in the world today. Mans inhumanity to man, religious strife, political apathy and lack of courage, a few voices crying in the wilderness, public support and anger that does nothing to move the dial. This is a very good but discouraging movie, I only hope his efforts are somehow rewarded.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/12/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Extremely sad.....especially when this documentary came out in 2007 and there really has been no change. The sadness is that human life is cheap and keeps getting cheaper. Remember the horrors that other people go through when you bad day is because you had to wait on line longer than expected. This documentary is not pretty...

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/29/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Tragic and hard to watch, but a must-see nonetheless

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/14/23

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Audience Member

If you already felt the devastation in Darfur was too complex to easily change, this documentary won't help. We follow a former Marine who, by a damning stroke of fate, found himself with the duty to document each case of genocide. Captain Steidle, raised in a strong military family, came in as a former Marine who had seen his share of combat. He's the only American who witnessed, for 6 months, the merciless violence. It has broken him, and in one scene we see him grieving, overwhelmed by his powerlessness to stop, even just once, what he had seen. After we see him testify to us through the media and meet with our leaders, it seems by the film's end that everyone is powerless, and we all just have to watch it.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/23/23

Full Review

Audience Member

INCREDIBLE and deeply disturbing. PLEASE watch this! I don't know how we can continue to live in ignorance and turn a blind eye to such undeniable need. Please use this as one of the first steps to educating yourself on the crisis in Darfur and take steps to see that change happens.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/18/23

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Mark Holcomb

Time Out

Rated: 4/5

Nov 17, 2011

Full Review

Matt McNally

BBC.com

The Devil Came On Horseback sets out to shock. The images caught by Steidle's camera will stay with you long after his personal story - given too much time in relation to events - has faded from memory.

Rated: 3/5

Apr 11, 2008

Full Review

Owen Williams

Empire Magazine

A decent attempt at outling the crises but crucially lacking much depth.

Rated: 3/5

Apr 11, 2008

Full Review

Joanne Laurier

World Socialist Web Site

[A] deeply misguided film...

Sep 2, 2020

Full Review

David Lamble

Bay Area Reporter

Filmmakers Annie Sundberg and Ricki Stern show us hauntingly beautiful aerial shots of Western Darfur.

May 26, 2020

Full Review

Debbie Lynn Elias

Behind The Lens

Nick and George Clooney opened my eyes as to the horrors of the genocide in the Darfur region of the Sudan. Former U.S. Marine Captain Brian Steidle, together with filmmakers Annie Sundberg and Ricki Stern opened my conscience.

Nov 7, 2019

Full Review

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Synopsis

While serving with the African Union, former Marine Capt. Brian Steidle documents the brutal ethnic cleansing occuring in Darfur. Determined that the Western public should know about the atrocities he is witnessing, Steidle contacts New York Times reporter Nicholas Kristof, who publishes some of Steidle's photographic evidence.

Director: Ricki Stern, Anne Sundberg
Executive Producer: Omar Amanat
Screenwriter: Ricki Stern, Anne Sundberg
Distributor: International Film Circuit [us]
Production Co: Break Thru Films
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: Arabic
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 25, 2007, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 23, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $132.3K

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