Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

The Central Park Five

Play trailer Poster for The Central Park Five 2012 1h 59m Documentary Crime Drama History Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
92% Tomatometer 76 Reviews 86% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
Filmmakers Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon examine a 1989 case of five teenagers who were wrongfully convicted of raping a woman. After spending from six to thirteen years in prison, a serial rapist confessed to the crime.
Watch on Fandango at Home Stream Now

Where to Watch

The Central Park Five

Critics Reviews

View More
Olivia B. Waxman TIME Magazine 09/19/2024
That access to the exonerated suspects makes this documentary unique compared to other true crime docs... Go to Full Review
Dwight Brown National Newspaper Publishers Association 11/09/2016
4/4
A searing, purposeful documentary -- a 21st century cautionary tale. Go to Full Review
Chris Chang Film Comment Magazine 06/17/2013
The film, in some ways a primer on the perennial intractability of racial prejudice, clearly intends to be some sort of vindication of its five central figures. It succeeds in the first respect but falls wide of the mark in the second. Go to Full Review
Joanne Laurier World Socialist Web Site 02/28/2021
The Central Park Five chronicles the case, focusing on interviews with the now-adult men who suffered appallingly at the hands of a vindictive and unjust legal structure and media. Go to Full Review
Jordan M. Smith IONCINEMA.com 11/16/2020
As we see our societal systems breaking down at the most basic levels, The Central Park Five elegantly marks a point in U.S. history we hope to avoid repeating. Go to Full Review
Allen Almachar The MacGuffin 07/29/2020
A
This is an affecting documentary that stirs the emotions, because it takes a mirror and places it directly in front of us as a people. Go to Full Review
Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More
@Michael71 04/26/2021 Ken Burns has once again delivered an excellent documentary. It is very compelling from the beginning and never lets up. The fact that all five men agreed to be interviewed for the documentary helps a great deal. The viewer can certainly feel the pain of the five men who were wrongly convicted of the horrific attack on the Central Park Jogger as they tell their stories. What makes this case even more sad is that the prosecution in the case knew they did not have sufficient evidence to convict the five suspects of the crime so they decided to use brutal tactics to force confessions out of them. It is shocking beyond all belief. "The Central Park Five" also does a great job showing what is very wrong with our system of policing. It is stories like these that need to be told in order for things to change and "The Central Park Five" shows that change is desperately needed. This Peabody Award winning documentary is something that I feel everybody should see for a number of reasons. Though is has been more than three decades since this terrible crime, it is very important that it is not forgotten so the mistakes of the past will not be repeated. See more 10/07/2019 It was real and heart breaking to wat h. This story needs to be told and the movie captures it well! See more 06/06/2019 OMG!! SHOCKING!! Could not take my eyes off of it! Sad but true events!!! See more Frances H 04/05/2019 Ken Burns does it again with this story of one of the worst miscarriages of justice in the history of New York and the USA. The racism and corruption of the police department that did this and then took accolades for their horrendous lies to the accused boys and to the court under oath says it all! See more 11/26/2018 Stunning and shocking re how far the police will go to "solve" a high profile crime. Its very sad that the 5 had to fulfill the sentences which ranged from 6.5 - 13yrs, as the truth came out afterwards. They truly deserve a settlement from the city/police force. See more 10/25/2018 An outstanding documentary. The hatred, the corruption. unbearence of the people. non-importance of both lives -victim and so-called victims-. laws of jungle which happen everyday, Still not happy of the end of the case but nice realisation and efforts to contribute. See more Read all reviews
The Central Park Five

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW
West of Memphis 95% 87% West of Memphis Watchlist Cocaine Cowboys 71% 79% Cocaine Cowboys Watchlist Granito: How to Nail a Dictator 40% 40% Granito: How to Nail a Dictator Watchlist Kids for Cash 92% 74% Kids for Cash Watchlist Into the Abyss 92% 76% Into the Abyss Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis Filmmakers Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon examine a 1989 case of five teenagers who were wrongfully convicted of raping a woman. After spending from six to thirteen years in prison, a serial rapist confessed to the crime.
Director
Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, David McMahon
Producer
Sarah Burns, David McMahon
Screenwriter
Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, David McMahon
Distributor
IFC Films
Production Co
Florentine Films
Genre
Documentary, Crime, Drama, History
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Nov 23, 2012, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 4, 2019
Box Office (Gross USA)
$273.7K
Runtime
1h 59m
Most Popular at Home Now