Newtown

Released Oct 7, 2016

1h 25m

Documentary

History

Drama

List

94%

35 Reviews

Tomatometer

69%

250+ Ratings

Audience Score

Twenty months after a horrific mass shooting in Newtown, Conn., that took the lives of 20 elementary school children and six educators on Dec. 14, 2012, the small New England town is in a complex psychological tangle in the wake of yet another act of mass killing at the hands of a disturbed young gunman. The film provides access into the lives and homes of those who remain, all of whom have been indelibly changed by the events.

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Audience Member

This is not a documentary that focuses on the actual event... it's about the ramifications and grief that was caused by the event. It shows the absolute hell that families are going through post-shooting, especially the victims' families. It's really telling how a basic little change re mandatory checks before buying a gun was beat out in congress. What a complete joke. I guess the NRA has more clout than the victims who lost their life due to a mentally disturbed man who got access to a military assault rifle.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/15/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Heartbreakingly beautiful

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

- Newtown's school shooting and all that remains - The shooting at Sandy Hook in Newtown, Connecticut on December 14, 2012 was the largest school shooting in history. 26 people, 20 of them children, died at the hands of a mentally unstable man with an assault weapon. I remember it happening. I remember saying to myself at the time, "thank goodness I don't live in America." And then I proceeded to feel profound rage and sadness because I couldn't do anything to support the crisis. It seemed obvious what Newtown would be about - a story about a man behind a gun. I had prepared myself to once again experience fury at the lack of gun-control in America. And although at times I felt anger while watching Newtown, by the end, I mostly felt an overwhelming empathy for the families affected by that day. Kim A. Syner (Welcome to Shelbyville) is well-known for her short documentary films, but I have to say, this is her magnum opus. Newtown is told through interviews with the family members who lost loved ones on that fateful day. They reminisce about the lives of their children and talk about the short time they had with them before they were murdered. Their stories are often powerfully interrupted by flashbacks to the 911 calls from the day of the shooting. I found myself vacillating between empathy and anger very quickly. As humans, our emotions are fluid. Newtown reflects this. My emotional state was never constant. It's a very effective storytelling method. Aspects of Newtown are very polished. It's a deliberate political attempt to push gun control. But Syner doesn't focus on this issue much. The stories of grieving parents speak for themselves. This film tells the stories of the fallen, rather than the story of the man who committed this hideous crime. As one father said - "you can only imagine how difficult and challenging it is to try and interpret what your seven-year-old experienced, as he was being murdered, by a gun, in his first-grade classroom." Newtown may not be pleasant to watch, but it is one of the most powerful and profound experiences you will have in documentary cinema because it asks you the question, how would you feel if this loss was one of yours and what would you do about it? ---------- This review was first published on Narrative Muse, http://narrativemuse.co/movies/newtown, and was written by Jules Raynes. Narrative Muse curates the best books and movies by and about women and non-binary folk on our website http://narrativemuse.co and our social media channels.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/08/23

Full Review

daniel h

An intimate portrayal of a small town's grief and their attempts to put their lives back together. Heartbreaking and hard to watch, but an important film nonetheless.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

It started out pretty good but it seemed to drag on and it wasn't always that interesting. I found it less compelling than other documentaries. Less about the day's events and more about how someone of the families feel now.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

Audience Member

So terribly sad and heartbreaking.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/28/23

Full Review

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Kim A. Snyder

Director

Sally Cox

Actor

Mark Barden

Actor

Nick Stuart

Executive Producer

CarolAnne Dolan

Executive Producer

Regina K. Scully

Executive Producer

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Sophie Gilbert

The Atlantic

It feels like the closest thing to a tribute audiences can pay to the children and adults who died, and the town that continues to grieve them.

Nov 7, 2016

Full Review

Brian Lowry

CNN.com

One needn't be a mother or father to be drawn in by what Snyder has captured in this quiet but powerful film. Just being human will do.

Nov 1, 2016

Full Review

Jason Bailey

Flavorwire

Snyder's filmmaking is elegant but basic, and it needs not be more. She's not there to dazzle us. She's there to bear witness.

Oct 15, 2016

Full Review

David Bax

Battleship Pretension

We see happiness unspoiled, our own unfulfilled potential, all the mistakes we never made.

Jan 5, 2021

Full Review

Joel Mayward

Cinemayward

Snyder's camera doesn't feel exploitative or didactic; it simply shows the faces and lives of people who have experienced the absolute worst and continue to endure daily life.

Rated: 4/5

Dec 6, 2018

Full Review

Jade Budowski

Decider

Newtown succeeds because of the powerful emotional story it tells; while it is incredibly gut-wrenching, it leaves viewers with a message of hope and unity, and a vital call to action.

Jan 31, 2018

Full Review

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Synopsis

Twenty months after a horrific mass shooting in Newtown, Conn., that took the lives of 20 elementary school children and six educators on Dec. 14, 2012, the small New England town is in a complex psychological tangle in the wake of yet another act of mass killing at the hands of a disturbed young gunman. The film provides access into the lives and homes of those who remain, all of whom have been indelibly changed by the events.

Director: Kim A. Snyder
Producer: Nick Stuart, CarolAnne Dolan, Regina K. Scully, Mara Sandler
Distributor: Abramorama
Genre: Documentary, History, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 7, 2016, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 3, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $13.0K
Runtime: 1h 25m

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