I’ve been watching movies for over 45 years, and there is rarely a film that knocks me down like 20 Days in Mariupol did. I mean, it really hit me hard. Documentaries can do that sometimes.  They have a way of putting the viewer into the shoes of the filmmakers and subjects they document. This film is one such film. It’s one of the most realistic things I’ve ever watched in a documentary or otherwise.

20 Days in Mariupol is a documentary about a film crew documenting the occupation of Ukraine by the Russian Federation and Vladimir Putin. This film crew witnesses some devastating atrocities at the hands of the Russian military. A few scenes involving children getting decapitated and babies being born to women who just died hit me particularly hard. This was a very difficult film to watch. 

The filmmakers tried to get the story across to viewers in various ways, including news broadcast from around the globe, and specifically CNN and MSNBC — two American news channels. And the director Mstyslav Chernov does a great job narrating the film. He gives the audience watching this movie a first-hand account of what they’re witnessing. This helped me tremendously in watching the film. 

With this movie being about the Russian incursion into Ukraine, it goes without saying that there will be plenty of Ukrainians who give their opinions on what is going on in their country. Many times, it’s women crying and wondering what is going on or what happened to their homes. Sometimes people are pretty upset at the film crew as well. This film is well thought-out and executed by the filmmakers, camera people, and editor.

Filmmakers have been making war films for decades. Some of them are genuinely great, such as Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan and last year’s All Quiet on the Western Front. They get what war is all about. This documentary shows many things that show how devastating war truly is. One gentleman who is a police officer pleads with those watching in real-time to witness the atrocities of what is going on. He ends up being a guide to the film crew.

One aspect of the film that got me pretty mad was how various politicians and news outlets tried to play this incursion as fake or made up. How the doctors and nurses in a hospital were actors playing roles in a fake movie. That was disgusting to me. These are real pictures and videos of blood and death captured in real time. It was even hard for the filmmakers to get their footage out to the audience that needed to see it. It’s that real. So for people to say it’s fake news is horrible to me.

20 Days in Mariupol is one of the scariest things I’ve ever witnessed on screen. It shows war in a way I haven’t seen except Saving Private Ryan and All Quiet on the Western Front. This film crew is genuinely heroes in my mind for what they had to brave during this difficult time. I think all the ways the filmmakers used to tell this story were very good. They made this film more impactful. This is one of, if not the best documentary of the year.

5 stars

Dan Skip Allen