First They Killed My Father

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First They Killed My Father

2017

2h 16m

Biography

History

Drama

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Popcornmeter

88%

Tomatometer

73 Reviews

81%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

Loung Ung is 5 years old when the Khmer Rouge assumes power over Cambodia in 1975. They soon begin a four-year reign of terror and genocide in which nearly 2 million Cambodians die. Forced from her family's home in Phnom Penh, Ung is trained as a child soldier while her six siblings are sent to labor camps.

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Critics Consensus

First They Killed My Father tackles its subject matter with grace, skill, and empathy, offering a ground-level look at historic atrocities that resonates beyond its story's borders.

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Tara Brady

Irish Times

[Angelina] Jolie's fourth narrative feature,confirms her as an exquisite craftswoman and an artist capable of tackling geopolitical complexities.

Rated: 4/5

Sep 22, 2017

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Sara Michelle Fetters

MovieFreak.com

Jolie's latest is a strong adaptation of Loung's mind-blowing story, all of it anchored by a performance from Sareum that's simply marvelous.

Rated: 3.5/4

Sep 22, 2017

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Stephanie Zacharek

TIME Magazine

First They Killed My Father is a sensitively rendered account of one child's real-life experience, but its broader implications are noteworthy too.

Sep 21, 2017

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Brendan Cassidy

InSession Film

...much like young Loung, we constantly question that. This is far and away Angelina Jolie’s finest achievement as a director...

Jul 2, 2024

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Jamie Healy

Radio Times

The dialogue is sparse and the timeline of events only hinted at, but Jolie's approach succeeds in capturing Loung's adaptation to the huge changes in her life.

Rated: 4/5

May 2, 2024

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Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

As a kid it wasn't a history class that first educated me on the Khmer Rouge and the atrocities committed by their hand. It was a movie – 1984’s powerful “The Killing Fields”. Now I feel another movie is reopening my eyes.

Rated: 4.5/5

Aug 20, 2022

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Gareth D

Gut wrenching, heart breaking, brutal and poignant. Narrative driven and extremely visual with very little dialogue. A powerful movie.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/24/24

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Luis M. D

A historic drama narrated by a real-life survivor. It's as tense and gut-wrenching as the 1984 movie ‘The Killing Fields'. Definitely good!

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

11/24/23

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John S

Very well done, shows humanity amid the brutality of the Khmer Rouge. Correctly recalls the cultural milieu of the 1970s in post colonial phnom phen.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/27/23

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Jennifer M

This was such an amazing story. I almost didn't watch since it was in a foreign language, but I am so glad I kept on. You really get a great sense of the daily life these people went through and it was sad to see how these children were used and abused. I would definitely recommend watching this!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/30/23

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Yien T

Powerful performance by the actors especially little Sareum Srey Moch. A difficult movie but a must- see.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

06/08/23

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john f

An important addition to the films portraying this era in Southeast Asia, and an improvement in some ways to the classic The Killing Fields (namely in its ability to focus more attention on the Khmer people while doing so in a sensitive and humanizing way). That said, the film still does not offer explanations for the decisions made by the Khmer Rouge (the fact that Pol Pot's ideas had come directly out of China), and the portrayal of the Vietnamese invasion and occupation is overly positive and incomplete (to be fair that wasn't the focus of this film).

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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Angelina Jolie

Director

Sareum Srey Moch

Loung Ung

Phoeung Kompheak

Pa Ung

Sveng Socheata

Ma Ung

Tharoth Sam

Khmer Rouge Leader

Angelina Jolie

Screenwriter

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First They Killed My Father: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

Loung Ung is 5 years old when the Khmer Rouge assumes power over Cambodia in 1975. They soon begin a four-year reign of terror and genocide in which nearly 2 million Cambodians die. Forced from her family's home in Phnom Penh, Ung is trained as a child soldier while her six siblings are sent to labor camps.

Director: Angelina Jolie
Producer: Angelina Jolie, Rithy Panh, Ted Sarandos
Screenwriter: Angelina Jolie, Loung Ung
Production Co: Netflix
Genre: Biography, History, Drama
Original Language: Khmer
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 15, 2017
Runtime: 2h 16m

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