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Canada · 2018
1h 47m
Director Astra Taylor
Starring
Genre Documentary
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A vast, timely, and often chilling investigation into the idea and practice of democracy, ranging from Ancient Greece and Renaissance Europe to civil rights, fears of voter fraud, and the spectre of authoritarianism.
An extended and good-looking essay, it serves as a sharp reminder to pay attention to politics and to remember that the personal and the local are political. If you like thinking about that sort of thing, and you care about whether your democracy means anything, this film might make you get up and take some action.
Screen International by Allan Hunter
Elegantly shot and fluidly edited, What Is Democracy? reveals Taylor’s sure instincts as she shapes the vast sprawl of often disparate, sometimes random-feeling material into a focused, thought-provoking essay that even leaves you feeling that there was so much more to say on the subject.
The New York Times by Ben Kenigsberg
Like democracy itself, the movie assumes such a broad mandate and has such noble intentions that indicating its shortcomings seems almost beside the point.
The Hollywood Reporter by John DeFore
A smart doc that's as earnest and scattered as the viewers likely to seek it out, Astra Taylor's What Is Democracy? looks around at the world and realizes that even those of us on the right sides of things aren't always sure what we're fighting for.
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by John Semley
It’s a thoughtful, brainy, deeply considered and artful film that arouses the intellect and the passions and grapples with the problems of democracy.