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What You Gonna Do When The World's On Fire?

Play trailer 1:00 Poster for What You Gonna Do When The World's On Fire? 2018 2h 3m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
88% Tomatometer 48 Reviews 64% Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
During the summer of 2017, a string of brutal killings of black men in the United States sent shock waves throughout the country.
What You Gonna Do When The World's On Fire?

What to Know

Critics Consensus

What You Gonna Do When the World's On Fire? traces the aftershocks of race-motivated violence in thoughtful, impressionistic fashion.

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Critics Reviews

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Gilbert Adair Sight & Sound 11/15/2019
6
World's on Fire never manages to bring the different elements of the narrative together. It's neither truly immersive nor is it able to establish a critical distance from its subjects Go to Full Review
Wendy Ide Observer (UK) 10/20/2019
4/5
Beauty and chaos collide in this documentary by Roberto Minervini. Go to Full Review
Phil Hoad Guardian 10/17/2019
3/5
In the film, shot with elegiac finality in black and white, Minervini makes subtle communitarian and intergenerational connections between the stories. Go to Full Review
Serena Seghedoni Loud and Clear Reviews 11/02/2023
The characters we see belong to four different communities, but Minervini shows them to us with such honesty and empathy that we soon understand that the struggles they face are very similar and very real. Go to Full Review
Peter Canavese Celluloid Dreams 06/04/2020
4/4
Staggering...a vital snapshot of African American life as it's being lived on the margins of society...one of the best films I've seen by far this year. Go to Full Review
Chris Barsanti Eyes Wide Open (Medium) 04/17/2020
...weaves together a quartet of narratives about resilience in the face of mounting pressures. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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12/08/2021 Minervini's camera works magically in this film that does not feel like a documentary or fiction, what is better, it does not feel like a film, it makes us witnesses and participants in a black community in which racism has become, as for centuries, something to take care of yourself and others, because no one, and it is shown in one of the final sequences, is willing to take risks for them. It is an urgent documentary with its feet firmly on Earth and, I could assure you, suffers the curse of the documentary maker: Not being able to intervene directly of what you are seeing and still being aware that what you are doing is also important. See more 10/24/2020 The movie presented the anger and hopelessness in 2017 after several black men were killed - whether by the Klan, the police, or just random violence. See more 07/21/2019 It was an insteresting subject but the movie felt si redundant I couldn't avoid to fell asleep. Nothing happend and when something finally happened ir was towards the end. See more Read all reviews
What You Gonna Do When The World's On Fire?

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Movie Info

Synopsis During the summer of 2017, a string of brutal killings of black men in the United States sent shock waves throughout the country.
Director
Roberto Minervini
Producer
Paolo Benzi, Denise Ping Lee, Roberto Minervini
Screenwriter
Roberto Minervini
Production Co
RAI Cinema, Okta Film
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 6, 2020
Runtime
2h 3m