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Punishment Park

Play trailer Poster for Punishment Park R 1973 1h 28m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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92% Tomatometer 12 Reviews 86% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
In this fictional documentary, U.S. prisons are at capacity, and President Nixon declares a state of emergency. All new prisoners, most of whom are connected to the antiwar movement, are now given the choice of jail time or spending three days in Punishment Park, where they will be hunted for sport by federal authorities. The prisoners invariably choose the latter option, but learn that, between the desert heat and the brutal police officers, their chances of survival are slim.

Critics Reviews

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Judith Crist New York Magazine/Vulture 01/01/2020
The most offensive of the recent Festival films I have seen to date. Go to Full Review
J. Hoberman Village Voice 05/11/2010
Shot during the post-Kent State "law and order" election of 1970, Punishment Park can seem so outrageous as to verge on camp, but few other movies capture so painfully the rhetoric and desperation of the times. Go to Full Review
Jeremiah Kipp Slant Magazine 11/14/2005
4/4
Punishment Park is told in the pseudo-documentary style that defines most of the obscure body of work by British filmmaker Peter Watkins. Go to Full Review
Q.V. Hough Vague Visages 06/22/2023
While certain aspects of Punishment Park may seem hilarious today, the film was undoubtedly frightening upon first release... Go to Full Review
Paul Dale The List 04/25/2019
5/5
Punishment Park is seminal political cinema of the highest order. Go to Full Review
Naila Scargill Trebuchet 02/28/2019
Shot in cinéma-vérité style and presented as pseudo-documentary, its message is all the more powerful, resonating long after the credits have rolled. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Emmeric G @Mr.Oizo Jan 6 The best mockumentary i've ever seen. I was on the edge of my seat all the way long and I wanted to jump cross the screen to fight with the characters. This film is something else let me say it!! See more 03/09/2022 This mockumentary seemed real to us throughout the video. The images were very shocking and very real, which made us believe that it was a real documentary, directed by a producer. Indeed we could think that it was authentic because of the voices off and the monotonous tone of it. Some scenes have made us very angry, such as the scene where the black man sees himself cut off, even prevented from speaking, or the scene where a woman is ejected from the courtroom to calm down. See more 03/04/2022 this film is very good because it allows us to have culture without forgetting that it is a mockumentary the scenes that take place are really very interesting I rather liked to see this film See more 03/04/2022 This film is a mockumentary. The concept isn't idiot : resistents protest against the Vietnam war. They chose to run in the desert to avoid the prison. But the movie is really long : it is just peuple Who run during one hours. See more 03/03/2022 I'm sorry but I doesn't like this movie, because it's a little bit boring and very long. What's more it's always the same things during 1 hours they don't change of landscape just the desert and the exam room. But it's so interest to see that the director of this movie managed to make us believe that it's true and it's a real story. But no it's false and I think that even if I doesn't like the film, it is very strong. See more 03/03/2022 "Punishment Park" is a good mockumentary that denounces the gouvernement of the USA. Also the fact that the characters are real opponents, adds realism to the mockumentary. However, it's long so it can be quite boring. Yuna and Ilonie See more Read all reviews
Punishment Park

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Movie Info

Synopsis In this fictional documentary, U.S. prisons are at capacity, and President Nixon declares a state of emergency. All new prisoners, most of whom are connected to the antiwar movement, are now given the choice of jail time or spending three days in Punishment Park, where they will be hunted for sport by federal authorities. The prisoners invariably choose the latter option, but learn that, between the desert heat and the brutal police officers, their chances of survival are slim.
Director
Peter Watkins
Screenwriter
Peter Watkins
Distributor
Canyon Cinema
Production Co
Chartwell
Rating
R
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 14, 1973, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 27, 2016
Runtime
1h 28m