Part One (2019) User Reviews (28)

22:22

[ameliek81 · 10/10 · 16 June 2019]

I had to hit pause, it was exactly 22mins and 22secs in. I want to throw up. I want to hug those boys, I want to run into the room and protect them. I want to yell at the cops. I feel so helpless watching this, I feel anger. These young boys were terrorized, it's hard to watch.

The emotions I'm feeling is a testament to how well this episode is directed and executed. The actors, the boys.. those boys, the parents... the cops, the lawyer. My heart aches. I feel nauseous

Hard hitting !!

[etcrushabh57-432-364331 · 10/10 · 2 June 2019]

Extremely gripping & at times really tough to watch. Direction, writing & acting are all outstanding!!

Children's Lives Taken

[Magnolia_Green · 10/10 · 3 June 2019]

The first episode covers the night of the attack and the subsequent 24hrs. There are some who never heard the story of the CP5. They are five young black and Hispanic boys (14yo-16yo) who were railroaded into stating that were a part of the attack and rape of a white woman in Central Park in 1988. They were held for up to 20hrs without food, water and in most cases, no parent or guardian present. These children were told if they said what the police wanted them to say they could go home. They were told if they signed a confession they did not write, they could go home. They were told. They were told by adults who were knowingly breaking the law. They were told by adults who knowingly violated their constitutional rights. They were told by adults who took issue with their black and brown skin. They were told by adults who repeatedly referred to them as animals and spoke to and treated them as such. As a parent of a little brown boy, I see how in 2019, that could be my child. This episode is like watching a slow car wreck and not being allowed to look away. So many people want to say this was over 30yrs ago. But it isn't. Kalief Browder was given the same treatment in 2010. So many others weren't given that treatment, but the judge and jury treatment of being shot and killed in the street. It is hard to watch these kids being drug down without holding your heart. It is hard to watch and not pause, look away, or fast forward. But you cannot. You have to watch. You have to look at every moment and internalize it. Keep that fear and anger right at the surface. And next time you hear a young person of color is being treated poorly or not being given their constitutional rights...ACT! Stand up.

This is just the first episode and it's giving me cramps...DAMN!

[robusm · 10/10 · 31 May 2019]

Are you being serious? I literally went on google to read up on the crime because I couldn't believe what was happening. Don't know, just needed some validation. But, watching it play out, the gross incompetence of every 'adult' in charge was so so so much on me as a viewer. Talk about anxiety. And to think, this kind of racial profiling is happening still, after almost 40 years. Just last week, a guy picking up trash from outside his home was racially profiled. PICKING UP TRASH??? As a poc and a male, this literally gives me anxiety of what goes on in the minds of officers, treating everybody as a suspect and not human first. YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO PROTECT FIRST!

Hard to watch knowing that this actually happened

[trollerbrendan · 10/10 · 3 June 2019]

A very griping pilot that is extremely hard to watch. You just have to watch it yourself to understand.

Brilliant

[lindseyannex · 10/10 · 11 June 2019]

Those kids need to be nominated, brilliant acting and brilliant pilot

So Many Emotions

[donaldhadfield-99396 · 10/10 · 5 June 2019]

This is one of the most infuriating, tear jerking, maddening, sickening pieces of art I've ever seen. It's an important story that everyone needs to see with BRILLIANT performances, but it is a VERY TOUGH watch. Do not let this deter you.

Be Prepared!

[StuffedCat · 10/10 · 3 February 2020]

It has just taken me about four hours to watch this one-hour episode. I had to keep pausing it so I could calm down!

Some of the negative criticisms about this mini-series claim it's only 5% true. I suspect that's just a number plucked from the air, but even if it's so, most of that 5% is unacceptable now and should have been then!

One critic suggests reading "the true facts" on Wikipedia. Well, I did. It doesn't have the gut-wrenching power of this dramatisation but even a bald reading of it screams 'Injustice!'

Felicity Huffman, btw, is a superb actress. No doubt she's a wonderfully nice person in real life, which makes her performances in roles such as she has here even more incredible. I guess it's because you totally believe that she totally believes she's doing the right thing.

Watch this. Even if you think it's all fiction, it's amazingly powerful.

It takes your breath away

[perverz · 9/10 · 7 June 2019]

I've Never written a Review on imdb but this pilot just took my breath. It crushed me in pieces. You see the plot unfold and realize 30 years later there is no significant change. People still beeing pressured to tell lies. Criminal Justice is non existent. Seeing the cops talking, hitting and pressuring the boys in to telling lies makes me so damn angry and sad at the same Time.

The actors doing a great Job, the screenplay is awesome, the whole unfairness of the situation/setting gives you goosebumps and leaves you speechless. The Pilot caught me off guard and gave me shiveres.

If I was on drugs I'd probably jump into the screen to punch these cops into their faces...

[aarongnr · 10/10 · 3 June 2019]

God they do a good job at getting me angry in this episode.

Loved this first episode, a must watch!

Upsetting to watch

[scarlettyforest · 10/10 · 17 July 2019]

This was so well directed, written and acted that it made me feel physically sick watching it. Such an upsetting experience, but it needed to be made, especially during this time.

Part One

[Prismark10 · 7/10 · 17 June 2019]

Ava DuVernay's dramatisation of The Central Park Five is harrowing viewing. To see young teenagers who are still minors arrested and abused by the policed who fit them up for a crime they know that they were not responsible for.

In the first episode you see these minors being interrogated, lied to, coerced to confessions without any lawyers present. The parents who attended did not know what to do or in one case frightened by the police themselves.

The police and the District Attorney's office rejig the timeline of a woman who was raped in Central Park so they can have a strong case against the five suspects.

In an earlier scene Linda Fairstein (Felicity Huffman) from the DA's office who attends the crime scene only make reference to one attacker. However she then goes on a crusade wanting predominantly black and hispanic youths rounded up and getting the police force all fired up.

It looks like a cunning and cynical ploy by the makers of the series and Netflix. Make Fairstein out to be an outright villain. The question then is will see sue Netflix for defamation? That means she will have to go to court, something that might end up costing more than her reputation!

It was a tough watch knowing the events were true. I am sure NYPD would like to say that was then, today it is different. However I have my doubts.

Unbelievable but true

[rubya · 10/10 · 16 January 2020]

This episode made me so so angry! I was too young when the real events occurred to know about the case so I had to look it up to check if it was a real story because it's so unbelievably sad and twisted and nasty. It's even worse to know it's real. What these children had to endure is gut wrenching and I can't imagine what they and their families went through. This episode will make you want to hurt the policemen and the prosecutor, want to hug and shield these boys, want to scream

The actors are all doing a great job and the sets, direction etc. are such that you feel you are watching the real thing. It's brilliant at showing the terrible world we live (lived?) in.

Harrowing

[tmasondvm · 10/10 · 16 January 2020]

There is no looking away from the horrendous nature of the events depicted. It makes you want to turn and not look while compelling us to bare witness to the blatant injustice of what occurred. Excellent performances all around. I hardly want to watch more but how can I not.

It amazes me how the few negative reviews call this portrayal inaccurate and want to maintain these five are still guilty despite a confession with DNA confirmation by the actual rapist and New York State admitting they were wrongfully convicted. I guess those viewers also believe everything our Great Leader spews from his mouth too.

I feel sick, but it's riveting

[tooraredie · 10/10 · 19 July 2019]

Anything that inspires the level of feeling that this does is clearly good, but it's not positive feelings, so if you're feeling fragile, don't watch until you're feeling a bit stronger. It's sickening knowing the cops didn't care whose life they ruined, what they did, just so long as someone was sent down - and I can't imagine much has changed since.

These poor kids - and the poor woman who got raped with none of them caring about getting the actual attacker/s taken off the streets.

Unbelievable yet so engrossing from minute 1

[jackashbourne25 · 10/10 · 3 June 2019]

Now I've seen some series opening episodes in my time but nothing like this. So powerful, so sad, so hard hitting, so well done and some amazing acting. Everything a series opening episode needs and more. Riveting, gripping, emotional and just leaves you wanting more. All this - yet it leaves you questioning everything you ever thought. Special.

One of the best Pilots I have ever seen

[mathiasgoodman · 9/10 · 31 May 2019]

WOW!!! This Episode did his job perfectly. Amazing acting, fantastic cinematography, great dialogues etc.. I was truly angry after this episode. I know after this episode...this show is something special. It does so much right. Life tells the best stories, but also the worst...

Well it's not a Mindblowing Episode though. It didn't shock me as much as Fargo the first episode for an example, but damn...not many shows do have such a great start. Definitely give this show I try, if you like law stories. It won't disappoint you.

My opinion

[ahmuuuu · 10/10 · 24 July 2019]

A sad and influential episode .. I feel pain my stomach because of this series .. injustice difficult to accept

One of the most difficult episodes to watch in the history of Tv

[enasaljammal · 10/10 · 27 October 2022]

Brilliant pilot an emotional roller coaster ,I kept pausing the episode because I got so frustrated and emotional that I couldn't bear to continue .

The fact that this actually happened to those little kids and many others that we don't know about is just heartbreaking , the intermediation & emotional manipulation is beyond my understanding ! Feeding them the affidavits and the fact that they were targeted for being minors of families with low income and poor understanding of the low is just discussing

The direction of this episode was on point, the casting and the way the scenes were set was brilliant

Although I'm a binge watcher I Needed a break before watching the next episode because it was so overwhelming what happened to those poor kids !

Great pilot

[obdyahia · 10/10 · 5 June 2019]

If this is the pilot how is other episodes bye, it's downloaded already

Heartbreaking.

[mjoseph-98701 · 10/10 · 18 June 2019]

First to time I've left a review. This story is hard to watch.

I cried watching this

[drsiiiiin · 9/10 · 10 October 2019]

Had to pause many time , felt so sad watching this even worse this is true story . Written well and soundtrack was perfect .

I want to give it 10 stars, BUT....

[katshaped · 21 April 2021]

I agree with what everyone else is saying. I also had to press pause several times because it was so hard to watch. Your heart bleeds for those kids, and you feel so incredibly frustrated and angry because you know that this is just ONE example of something that keeps happening over and over, i.e. Racial profiling.

BUT - I was also really shocked by the portrayal of Linda Fairstein. She is made out to be a complete monster. In fact, she comes across as so evil, it's almost a caricature. Now, having watched The Preppy Murder (documentary on Netflix) with/about Linda Fairstein, this portrayal of her is hard to believe. I can't help feeling angry on her behalf. Even if she made some horrible mistakes, there's no way I can believe that she acted with such malicious intent, framing the boys whilst knowing full well that they were innocent. To portray her like the embodiment of evil OBVIOUSLY makes for much 'better' television. But perhaps it's also misleading to tell the story like this. We get the impression that all of these terrible things happened, essentially, because of one horrible person. Which, in a way, is more 'comforting' than saying that this happened as a result of widespread, ingrained, perhaps also subliminal, prejudice and human error (because if that was the case, then, even in the absence of Linda Fairstein, this could happen again). I've given it 8, but I'm actually torn between 10 and 0. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe she IS a monster. I just don't think so.

When they see us, is the best and most important tv show watched by me

[lyes-metta · 9/10 · 17 July 2019]

This episode is a amazing story about 7 childs and there mistake is not true

Yes it's great I love the game

[alhumali · 10/10 · 8 June 2019]

Yes I don't think it's a great game it's a good idea