To Kill a Tiger

Released Oct 20, 2023

2 hr. 5 min.

Documentary

List

100%

23 Reviews

Tomatometer

96%

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Audience Score

In a small Indian village, Ranjit wakes up to find that his 13-year-old daughter has not returned from a family wedding. A few hours later, she's found stumbling home. After being abducted into the woods, she was sexually assaulted by three men. Ranjit goes to the police, and the men are arrested. But Ranjit's relief is short-lived, as the villagers and their leaders launch a sustained campaign to force the family to drop the charges. A cinematic documentary, To Kill a Tiger follows Ranjit's uphill battle to find justice for his child. In India, where a rape is reported every 20 minutes and conviction rates are less than 30 percent, Ranjit's decision to support his daughter is virtually unheard of. With tremendous access, we witness the emotional journey of an ordinary man facing extraordinary circumstances. A father whose love for his daughter forces a social reckoning that will reverberate for years to come.

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Critics Consensus

To Kill a Tiger documents a harrowing reality in rural India, but its defiance is simultaneously hopeful and empowering.

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Georgan G

Wonderful lesson about how law & justice can conflict with culture & local community. This brave family helped so many by sharing their struggle.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/23/24

Full Review

Mary F

Exactly how things were in America 50 years ago. India is not so different from the world I grew up in. A movie that hit me hard.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/02/24

Full Review

alexa josephine o

Inspirational. Empowering. Will tug at your emotions. You know the kind of movies that will leave you staring into space thinking about the characters and the story of their journey long after the credits had come and gone? That's the kind of movie this is.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/30/24

Full Review

Vitoria F

This documentary reminds us of cultural values, so different from ours, still rooted in many Eastern communities. So, witnessing such a painful struggle to face these values gives a lot of hope.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/23/24

Full Review

Tripti G

Such an inspiring strong daughter who with her father, family and the help of Srijan Foundation an NGO they fight against narrow minded village culture and seek justice. Very hard hitting and so sad the customs continue in the majority of rural villages today.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/17/24

Full Review

Sal D

What an incredibly brave young teenager fighting her village with her father.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/16/24

Full Review

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Linda Holmes

NPR

The use of color, light, and composition can be overlooked in considerations of documentary filmmaking when the themes are this powerful, but they are hard to miss here.

Feb 29, 2024

Full Review

Siddhant Adlakha

Variety

A heavy but necessary work about the legalese and cultural attitudes surrounding sexual violence in rural India.

Dec 30, 2023

Full Review

Tim Cogshell

FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)

A very well-made, good-looking film.

Nov 29, 2023

Full Review

Ishita Sengupta

The Federal

In the documentary, Canadian filmmaker Nisha Pahuja’s colonial gaze is bent on tailoring a narrative that would be more appealing to the West

Apr 8, 2024

Full Review

Barbara Shulgasser

Common Sense Media

The film paints a picture of an openly abusive and misogynist society where men are never blamed for their terrible acts and blame is casually laid at the feet of female victims.

Mar 26, 2024

Full Review

Monica Reid

Far Out Magazine

Director Pahuja deftly captures both the mounting tension in the community and the perceived hopelessness of legal action and the warmth and support offered to young Kiran, especially by her father.

Rated: 4/5

Mar 22, 2024

Full Review

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Synopsis

In a small Indian village, Ranjit wakes up to find that his 13-year-old daughter has not returned from a family wedding. A few hours later, she's found stumbling home. After being abducted into the woods, she was sexually assaulted by three men. Ranjit goes to the police, and the men are arrested. But Ranjit's relief is short-lived, as the villagers and their leaders launch a sustained campaign to force the family to drop the charges. A cinematic documentary, To Kill a Tiger follows Ranjit's uphill battle to find justice for his child. In India, where a rape is reported every 20 minutes and conviction rates are less than 30 percent, Ranjit's decision to support his daughter is virtually unheard of. With tremendous access, we witness the emotional journey of an ordinary man facing extraordinary circumstances. A father whose love for his daughter forces a social reckoning that will reverberate for years to come.

Director: Nisha Pahuja
Executive Producer: Nisha Pahuja, Cornelia Principe, Andy Cohen, Atul Gawande, Mindy Kaling
Screenwriter: Nisha Pahuja
Distributor: Notice Pictures
Production Co: Minor Realm, AC Films, Notice Pictures, National Film Board of Canada (NFB), ShivHans Pictures
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: Hindi
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 20, 2023, Limited

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