Into the Abyss

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Into the Abyss

PG-13

2011

1h 47m

Documentary

Crime

Drama

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Popcornmeter

92%

Tomatometer

117 Reviews

76%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

Filmmaker Werner Herzog explores capital punishment through interviews with convicted killers, their victims' families, and members of the Texas criminal justice system.

Critics Consensus

Another probing, insightful look at an interesting subject, Werner Herzog explores the American prison system with passion and not politics.

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Tony Rayns

Sight & Sound

07/06/2018

Into the Abyss is not just a compelling documentary about a convicted murderer on Death Row, but a further chapter in Werner Herzog's obsessive exploration of the American way of life - and death.

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Nicolas Rapold

Film Comment Magazine

07/01/2013

The star filmmaker, oft mocked for verging on self-parody, keeps his Teutonic explorer persona in check and allows his subjects' emotional outpourings-sadness, shame, dread, and desperation, and unexpected glimmers of hope and happiness-to set the tone.

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Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

03/29/2012

3/5

It's a decent film, though I felt that a clearer, sharper light could have been cast on the defendants themselves.

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Dennis Harvey

48 Hills

11/10/2023

You can say a lot about Werner Herzog, but who else could it be said of that he has fully earned the right to publicly address the most profound questions of our (or any) era?

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

03/06/2023

4/4

Whatever expectations you have entering this documentary, no matter how adamant your feelings are for or against capital punishment, they become another feeling entirely by the time it’s over.

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Dustin Chang

Floating World

03/21/2021

With no traces of cynicism or sly wit, Into the Abyss is a particularly straightforward documentary. Thoroughly inquisitive and contemplative, Herzog seems to be saying enough is enough.

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Maksim S

@MaksimusMovies Nov 10

In this stark and piercing documentary, Herzog winds his way into a Texas triple‑homicide case and the lives it shattered. He interviews the convicted killers, the victims’ families, and even a former execution‑officer, all while refusing easy answers or sensationalism. Bleak, intimate and unflinching, it digs into the human cost of crime and punishment — compelling throughout and never dull.

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Georgan G

@RT98616417 05/02/2024

Herzog films the emotional reactions of the killers and the people whose lives they changed. The correctional officer in change of the actual executions, speaks with great impact.

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Aaron J

@AarronJ81 03/29/2024

Haunting. A good documentary about the death penalty and the folks left in the wake of a crime.

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Tanya

@RT31727819 09/29/2023

Excellent film that highlights for the millionth time how expensive in dollars killing people for justice is. Regardless of your moral stance, it doesn't reduce crime & 1/3 of that money could easily be spent doing things that actually make a difference. Give these white trash moms producing these losers some sex ed & birth control & access to abortion. Or headstart programming. Or an education that doesn't leave fully 1/2 the population illiterate. Only dictatorships & war criminals & the US kill their criminals. Wake up already AND why not save millions in the process?

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Jerod S

@jeroduptown 12/28/2021

As for speaking to the death penalty, the film definitely takes a side. As for making the crimes committed a point of interest or the lifestyles of those involved, this documentary was really underwhelming.

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10/19/2020

The first half was quite interesting, but after that all the interviews seemed to make no sense in the main story.

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Werner Herzog

Director

Werner Herzog

Narrator

Amy Briamonte

Executive Producer

Dave Harding

Executive Producer

Erik Nelson

Producer

Peter Zeitlinger

Cinematographer

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Synopsis

Filmmaker Werner Herzog explores capital punishment through interviews with convicted killers, their victims' families, and members of the Texas criminal justice system.

Director: Werner Herzog
Producer: Erik Nelson
Distributor: IFC Films
Production Co: Werner Herzog Filmproduktion, Spring Films, Creative Differences
Rating: PG-13 (Some Disturbing Images|Mature Thematic Material)
Genre: Documentary, Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 11, 2011, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 28, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $222.0K
Runtime: 1h 47m

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