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  • 2012
  • Not Rated
  • Zeitgeist Films
  • 1 h 22 m
  • 2012
  • Not Rated
  • Zeitgeist Films
  • 1 h 22 m

Summary Margaret Atwood’s visionary work Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth is the basis for this riveting and poetic documentary on “debt” in its various forms—societal, personal, environmental, spiritual, criminal, and of course, economic. Filmmaker Jennifer Baichwal interweaves these (sometimes surprising) debtor/creditor relationshi...

Directed By: Jennifer Baichwal

Written By: Margaret Atwood, Jennifer Baichwal

  • 2012
  • Not Rated
  • Zeitgeist Films
  • 1 h 22 m
  • 2012
  • Not Rated
  • Zeitgeist Films
  • 1 h 22 m

Payback

Metascore Mixed or Average Based on 11 Critic Reviews
55
User Score Available after 4 ratings
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Where to Watch

Summary Margaret Atwood’s visionary work Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth is the basis for this riveting and poetic documentary on “debt” in its various forms—societal, personal, environmental, spiritual, criminal, and of course, economic. Filmmaker Jennifer Baichwal interweaves these (sometimes surprising) debtor/creditor relationshi...

Directed By: Jennifer Baichwal

Written By: Margaret Atwood, Jennifer Baichwal

Where to Watch

Top Cast

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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Mixed or Average Based on 11 Critic Reviews
55
36% Positive
4 Reviews
64% Mixed
7 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Mixed or Average Based on 11 Critic Reviews
55
36% Positive
4 Reviews
64% Mixed
7 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
75
Apr 21, 2012
Payback is nothing if not brave. It's a documentary attempt to give concrete shape to an abstract discussion, using the medium of film to transplant a nuanced thesis – on the concept of debt – from its natural home on the printed page.
By Rick Groen FULL REVIEW
63
Jun 21, 2012
Debt is bad, we can all agree, as is its conceptual cousin, greed. It would have been intellectually bracing, though, to have a Gordon Gekko equivalent on hand to argue otherwise.
By Mark Feeney FULL REVIEW
63
Apr 24, 2012
This documentary on the many forms of human debt, though often frustratingly broad, offers a path to balancing civilization's ledger with a hard-nosed brand of altruism.
By Bill Weber FULL REVIEW
60
Apr 24, 2012
While the movie occasionally stretches too far to maintain thematic coherence, its momentum is sustained by the urgency of its case studies, as well as the sense of outrage at the injustices perpetuated at the behest of powerful monetary interests and its striking imagery.
FULL REVIEW
50
Apr 27, 2012
All are subjects worthy of discussion, but tackling them in one film disrupts the movie's momentum and shortchanges viewers. Baichwal could have devoted a single film to just BP's disgraceful behavior.
By V.A. Musetto FULL REVIEW
50
Apr 24, 2012
You can't help feeling that the movie owed its subject - and its audience - a bit more.
By A.O. Scott FULL REVIEW
40
Apr 21, 2012
Aesthetically, it's desultory. Talking-heads rants and ruminations are further stultified by the amateurish aesthetics. Visually, zooms, pans and filler moments enervate the message. Most annoying, the dour music grates throughout; its hollow grinding, we'd guess, is an attempt to impart profundity.
FULL REVIEW

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Details

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Production Company National Film Board of Canada (NFB)
Release Date Apr 25, 2012
Duration 1 h 22 m
Rating Not Rated
Genres
Tagline Some debts can't be paid back with money
View All Details

Awards

Sundance Film Festival
• 1 Nomination

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