If 20 Days in Mariupol is about anything, it’s how much destruction can be done in such a short time.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
Ultimately, Chernov’s film is a compelling record of senseless destruction and death, and a salute to the enduring resilience of a people who refuse to surrender their home.
Structured by onscreen markers of the days passed, this nonfiction feature may not have a simple narrative arc, but the director’s unpretentious first-person narration and the intensity of the war-crimes evidence compiled make it riveting nonetheless.
The Hollywood Reporter by Frank Scheck
What comes through most vividly, other than the human tragedy on display, is the vital importance of war correspondents and the courage and ingenuity they must possess in order to work under such life-threatening conditions.
The Daily Beast by Nick Schager
Provides a remarkable snapshot of the war crimes that—as the daily news reminds us—are still being perpetrated today
It is not artful. It is urgent and ruthless and horrifying, and it shows the unspeakable.