X

2018
Not Rated
Zipporah Films
2 h 23 m

2018
Not Rated
Zipporah Films
2 h 23 m

Summary Monrovia, Indiana explores a small town in rural, mid-America and illustrates how values like community service, duty, spiritual life, generosity and authenticity are formed, experienced and lived along with conflicting stereotypes. The film gives a complex and nuanced view of daily life in Monrovia and provides some understanding of a w...

Documentary

Directed By: Frederick Wiseman

2018
Not Rated
Zipporah Films
2 h 23 m

2018
Not Rated
Zipporah Films
2 h 23 m

Monrovia, Indiana

Metascore Generally Favorable Based on 19 Critic Reviews

80

User Score Mixed or Average Based on 4 User Ratings

6.0

My Score

Hover and click to give a rating Saved

Summary Monrovia, Indiana explores a small town in rural, mid-America and illustrates how values like community service, duty, spiritual life, generosity and authenticity are formed, experienced and lived along with conflicting stereotypes. The film gives a complex and nuanced view of daily life in Monrovia and provides some understanding of a w...

Documentary

Directed By: Frederick Wiseman

Critic Reviews

Metascore

Generally Favorable Based on 19 Critic Reviews

84% Positive
16 Reviews

16% Mixed
3 Reviews

0% Negative
0 Reviews

All Reviews
Positive Reviews
Mixed Reviews
Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

Metascore

Generally Favorable Based on 19 Critic Reviews

84% Positive
16 Reviews

16% Mixed
3 Reviews

0% Negative
0 Reviews

All Reviews
Positive Reviews
Mixed Reviews
Negative Reviews

Nov 1, 2018

Wiseman doesn’t engage with immigration or migrant labor in his town portrait, which helps make Monrovia, Indiana a stubborn entry into his canon. Many of his subjects are invested in the continuity of what they perceive as a timeless American normalcy, but they’re too polite — and cagey — to say what that means on camera.

By Alan Scherstuhl FULL REVIEW

Sep 8, 2018

As always with Frederick Wiseman, it’s the quotidian gestures that haunt one in Monrovia, Indiana.

By Chuck Bowen FULL REVIEW

Washington Post

Nov 7, 2018

The result is a classic on a par with “Winesburg, Ohio” and “Our Town,” a narrow slice of contemporary American life that manages to be both admiring, yet capable of polite skepticism.

By Ann Hornaday FULL REVIEW

Sep 11, 2018

Wiseman is well known for his objectivity but another of his most enduring traits has been a dedication to showing audiences the hard, under-appreciated work that is constantly being done by small social organizations and local councils.

By Rory O'Connor FULL REVIEW

San Francisco Chronicle

Nov 7, 2018

Unmistakable political overtones populate the documentary Monrovia, Indiana, an examination of day-to-day life in a small, red-state town.

By David Lewis FULL REVIEW

The Hollywood Reporter

Sep 11, 2018

The film has its resonant moments, notably a wedding and a funeral. But it is by no means the jewel in the crown of a series that most recently has included electrifying docs like At Berkeley, In Jackson Heights and Ex Libris: The New York Public Library.

By Deborah Young FULL REVIEW

Oct 25, 2018

Wiseman has filmed and under-edited what amounts to a public record of a sliver of a village captured at one moment in time, playing up the boredom, celebrating the pace of life yet never noting its problems or discovering its charms.

By Roger Moore FULL REVIEW

See All 19 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

User Score

Mixed or Average Based on 4 User Ratings

75% Positive
3 Ratings

0% Mixed
0 Ratings

25% Negative
1 Rating

User Reviews

User Score

Mixed or Average Based on 4 User Ratings

75% Positive
3 Ratings

0% Mixed
0 Ratings

25% Negative
1 Rating

There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.

Details

Production Company Zipporah Films, Civic Film

Release Date Oct 26, 2018

Duration 2 h 23 m

Rating Not Rated

Genres

Documentary

View All Details

Awards

Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival

• 1 Win & 2 Nominations

Philadelphia Film Festival

• 1 Nomination

Florida Film Critics Circle Awards

• 1 Nomination

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