X
- 2017
- R
- Twentieth Century Fox
- 1 h 42 m
- 2017
- R
- Twentieth Century Fox
- 1 h 42 m
Summary A lawyer takes on a case of a prison guard in South Africa who is traumatized by the executions he's witnessed.
Directed By: Oliver Schmitz
Written By: Brian Cox, Chris Marnewick
- 2017
- R
- Twentieth Century Fox
- 1 h 42 m
- 2017
- R
- Twentieth Century Fox
- 1 h 42 m
Shepherds and Butchers
42
6.5
Where to Watch
Summary A lawyer takes on a case of a prison guard in South Africa who is traumatized by the executions he's witnessed.
Directed By: Oliver Schmitz
Written By: Brian Cox, Chris Marnewick
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 5 Critic Reviews
42
20% Positive
1 Review
1 Review
80% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 5 Critic Reviews
42
20% Positive
1 Review
1 Review
80% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
I found the picture moving in spite of its seeming unwillingness to wholly grapple with race and Coogan’s unwillingness to master the Afrikaner accent. He’s a gifted mimic, and Riseborough manages it. What gives? But what it does wrestle with is profound, and profoundly disturbing.
Dowds’ harrowed, haunted performance as a boy overwhelmed not just by the wolves to which he has been thrown, but the ones he claims have unconsciously emerged within him, gives the film its anxious emotional center.
This well-intentioned if somewhat heavy-handed historical affair is anchored by Coogan’s solid lead turn, with support from Andrea Riseborough as a hard-hitting state prosecutor and promising newcomer Garion Dowds as an executioner who could wind up facing the gallows.
What stands out in relief from the film’s flat characters and pedestrian storytelling is its dramatic core: the killing machine that death row had become in South Africa by the end of the 1980s, with 164 executions taking place in Pretoria Central Prison in the year in which Shepherds And Butchers is set, 1987.
Shepherds and Butchers doesn’t know which it is: the twisty legal drama that’s going to herd us through the issue or the ferocious expose, laying out the quotidian grimness of systemic death. It’s better at the latter. Even though much of the action is penned in the courtroom, the horror – and the interest – are played out in the past.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 4 User Ratings
6.5
75% Positive
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
0% Mixed
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
25% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 4 User Ratings
6.5
75% Positive
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
0% Mixed
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
25% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.
Awards
South African Film and Television Awards
• 1 Win & 9 Nominations
Woodstock Film Festival
• 2 Wins & 2 Nominations
Berlin International Film Festival
• 2 Nominations
