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The House I Live In

Play trailer Poster for The House I Live In Released Oct 5, 2012 1h 48m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
94% Tomatometer 66 Reviews 85% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
The death of his housekeeper's son inspires filmmaker Eugene Jarecki to add up the true cost of America's losing war on drugs.

Critics Reviews

View All (66) Critics Reviews
Claude Peck Minneapolis Star Tribune The movie's indictment would be more persuasive had Jarecki recognized that his audience likely already knows most of what he recaps, and can handle the odd scrap of ambiguity. Rated: 2/4 Jan 17, 2013 Full Review Tom Long Detroit News "The House I Live In" leaves you shaking your head in deadened wonder at the waste of it all. Rated: B+ Dec 7, 2012 Full Review Kate Muir Times (UK) One of the best documentaries out this year, and a must-see for Senate and Congress in America. Rated: 4/5 Nov 23, 2012 Full Review B. Ruby Rich Film Quarterly Elegantly edited [and] thoroughly researched... Deservedly took the jury award for best U.S. documentary. Feb 28, 2020 Full Review C.J. Prince Way Too Indie The subject matter alone makes this essential viewing if one has the chance to see it. Rated: 7.9/10 Jun 29, 2019 Full Review Daniel Green CineVue Despite presenting clean and precise analysis for the most part, Jarecki does stumble into simplistic didactic at several points in the film. Rated: 3/5 Feb 6, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (145) audience reviews
delysid d Imagine how boring a Drug Free America would actually be Rated 3 out of 5 stars 04/09/19 Full Review jed i 6.7/10 — "Okay"/"Decent"/"Watchable" Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Well-researched documentary on the futile 'War on Drugs' which has been going on in the U.S. for almost half a decade ("futile" because it massively increased prison numbers while failing to reduce drug use). According to director Eugene Jarecki's comment, the U.S. led the world-wide ranking of incarcerated citizen per capita -- five years later, they 'only' are number two. Autor and TV writer David Simon's comment on the growing prison industry: "All these Americans we don't need anymore -- let's see if we can make money off locking them up." Which reminds me of a line in George Clinton's song "U.S. Custom Coast Guard Dope Dog": "There's more profit in pretending that we're stopping it, than selling it." In the end of the frustrating film, Abraham Lincoln scholar Richard Lawrence Miller points out that the racist aspects of the current 'War on Drugs' have a long history. He argues that legal substances were frequently demonized only when it became clear that making them illegal could help keep a threatening minority in check. (As one example, Miller cites 19th century opium laws on the West Coast directed at Chinese immigrants.) Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Audience Member Amazing, thought provoking, enlightening & terrifying. I've recommended this to pretty much anyone I can. Wonderful documentary. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review Audience Member absolutely heartbreaking, mind boggling, frustrating....one of the best docs I have ever seen. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review Audience Member Excellent documentary on the failure of the war on drugs, sentencing bias, and unintended consequences that cause us to jail a higher percentage of our population than any other country. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The House I Live In

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Movie Info

Synopsis The death of his housekeeper's son inspires filmmaker Eugene Jarecki to add up the true cost of America's losing war on drugs.
Director
Eugene Jarecki
Producer
Eugene Jarecki, Melinda Shopsin, Samuel Cullman, Christopher St. John
Screenwriter
Eugene Jarecki
Distributor
Abramorama
Production Co
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 5, 2012, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
May 27, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$210.8K
Runtime
1h 48m