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Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story

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Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story reviews
72
9.3 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 13 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 3 votes
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Documentary

Written by: Patty Kim
Chris Sheridan

Directed by: Patty Kim

Release Date:
Theatrical: January 12, 2007

Running Time: 85 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: Not Rated

Starring Megumi Yokota

Japan, 1977. A dark, lonely road leads to the windswept shores. This is the remarkable story of a 13-year-old Japanese girl abducted on her way home from school by North Korean spies. For 20 years, her parents had no idea what had happened to her or if she was even alive. Then, one day the whole world learned the shocking truth. (Safari Media)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

88

TV Guide Ken Fox

The film unfolds with all the heart-stopping suspense of a true-crime expose that sheds light on the twisted policies of Kim Jong-il's strange and secretive nation.

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88

Chicago Tribune Sid Smith

In a time when American TV is full of stories of missing loved ones, Abduction keenly explores the reactions of an altogether different society and also examines the universal, excruciating pain suffered by such victims and their families everywhere.

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80

The New York Times Matt Zoller Seitz

The filmmakers have loftier goals, though, and in the end their existential tabloid style justifies itself. Abduction isn't about what happened, but about the painful introspection that is sparked by not knowing.

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75

New York Post V.A. Musetto

Abduction uses interviews, vintage photos and re-creations to tell the sad story of love and hope in riveting, suspenseful style. So powerful is this film, it brought tears to my eyes.

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75

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

Spellbinding.

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70

The Hollywood Reporter Frank Scheck

The dramatic story is related here in a somewhat diffuse and scattershot fashion that reduces some of its impact. But there is no denying its emotional resonance.

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70

The New Yorker Anthony Lane

Sometimes too ominous for its own good.

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70

Variety Joe Leydon

Looks, sounds and fascinates like an exceptional episode of a true-crime TV series.

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70

Village Voice Ed Gonzalez

Despite its structure, Abduction sheds light on the disturbing politics North Korea deploys to simultaneously intimidate the world and guard itself from attack.

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70

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

Abduction sheds light onto one of the strangest episodes in recent Asian history, but the murk that hangs over North Korea is still too deep for much light to penetrate.

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70

Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall

The long campaign waged by the Yokotas and other families demanding Japan's diplomatic intervention forms the core of this haunting BBC digital documentary.

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67

The Onion (A.V. Club) Noel Murray

This is a fascinating, underreported piece of recent world history, but Patty Kim and Chris Sheridan's documentary Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story doesn't do it full justice.

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67

Entertainment Weekly Scott Brown

For 20 years, Megumi's family doesn't know where she is; when they find out, the frustrations and uncertainties only mount. But as thickets of history and culture are (too) neatly avoided, the viewer is also left in the dark.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 9.3 (out of 10) based on 3 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

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