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The Oath
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Metascore
72 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 12 Critics What's this?

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  • Summary: Abu Jandal is a taxi driver in Sana’a, Yemen; his brother-in-law Salim Hamdan is a Guantanamo prisoner and the first man to face the controversial military tribunals. Jandal and Hamdan’s intertwined personal trajectories—how they became bin Laden’s bodyguard and driver respectively—act as prisms that serve to explore and contextualize a world which has confounded Western media. As Hamdan’s trial progresses, his military lawyers challenge fundamental flaws in the court system. The charismatic Jandal dialogues with his young son, Muslim students and journalists, and chillingly unveils the complex evolution of his belief system post-9/11. Winner of Best Documentary Cinematography at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, The Oath offers a rare window into a hidden realm—and the international impact of the U.S. War on Terror. (Zeitgeist Films)… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 12
  3. Negative: 0 out of 12
  1. Arizona Republic
    Reviewed by: Kerry Lengel
    90
    This is a challenging, brilliantly constructed film that, despite its patience and quiet tone, is engrossing from its first moments, especially an opening scene that encapsulates Jandal's poignant contradictions.
  2. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Ty Burr
    88
    The hidden message of The Oath is so inescapable as to be Shakespearean: Character will out.
  3. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Mick LaSalle
    50
    At first, The Oath looks as though it will be a study of the soul-corroding effects of twisted ideology, but it emerges as the reverse.

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