The Oath 2010

John Hartl, Seattle Times: The Oath makes spare use of images to convey a great deal. Al-Bahri's smiling child is surrounded by lethal weapons that are little more than toys to him. The color-drained skies of Guantanamo are juxtaposed with the lively Yemeni street scenes. Read more

Jonathan F. Richards, Film.com: Poitras has opened up a fascinating window into the minds of the people who hate us, apparently not so much for our freedom as for our arrogance, our belief that we are the center of the universe. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: A documentary that at its start purports to be the tale of two terrorists, the film keeps deepening and widening until it becomes a subtle, stubborn moral drama about users and the used. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: Just how deep inside Jandal's world Poitras goes is all the more striking given the inherent cultural barriers and danger she faced as a female filmmaker shooting a former Al Qaeda operative in Yemen. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Read more

David Denby, New Yorker: Poitras's movie digs deep; it hints at the violently conflicting drives that an intelligent human being may be liable to. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: The essential information in The Oath could have been boiled down to 30 minutes, but the good parts are indeed good. Read more

Keith Uhlich, Time Out: What emerges is an illuminating, though terribly dismaying, portrait of the War on Terror's lasting effects. Read more

Ella Taylor, Village Voice: In its roundabout way, this usefully meandering documentary probes the enduring stain of Guantanamo on its victims and on America. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: Read more