Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer
User Score
6.5 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 4 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 4
  3. Negative: 1 out of 4

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  1. JamesP.
    Feb 19, 2004
    9
    Aileen: Stunning, frightening, mesmerizing, heartbreaking. A devastating condemnation of capital punishment and the circus that surrounds it, and on a larger scale, of how our society fails its children. This is an extraordinary movie, although not an upbeat one. A must-see for those who saw and liked Monster. You will recognize the same mannerisms imitated (and exaggerated) by Charlisse Thereon. I was especially struck by Aileen Wuornos? quick smile, which displayed not joy but the thinly masked pain of a broken heart.… Expand

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
71 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 23 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 23
  3. Negative: 0 out of 23
  1. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Kirk Honeycutt
    70
    The most damning account of the failure of the criminal justice system in America anyone is ever likely to see.
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  2. Variety
    Reviewed by: Ronnie Scheib
    60
    It's the interviews with Aileen herself that steal the show as she insists her mind is being controlled by radio waves -- her Mad Hatter personality beyond the scope of Broomfield's disingenuous tone to interpret.
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  3. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Jessica Winter
    60
    Broomfield's investigatory technique remains a frustrating pileup of unfocused Q&As and misplaced credulity. But when Broomfield travels to her Michigan hometown, he pieces together a life blighted at breech-birth: a grotesque of abandonment, incest, physical and sexual abuse, pregnancy at 13, and homelessness.
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