X
  • 2021
  • Home Box Office (HBO)
  • 1 h 59 m
  • 2021
  • Home Box Office (HBO)
  • 1 h 59 m

Summary HBO's documentary tells the chilling story of Abu Zubaydah, the first high-value detainee subjected to the CIA's program of Enhanced Interrogation Techniques (EITs), later identified as torture by those outside the agency. Having never been charged with a crime or allowed to challenge his detention, Zubaydah remains imprisoned at Guantán...

Directed By: Alex Gibney

  • 2021
  • Home Box Office (HBO)
  • 1 h 59 m
  • 2021
  • Home Box Office (HBO)
  • 1 h 59 m

The Forever Prisoner

Metascore Generally Favorable Based on 4 Critic Reviews
75
User Score Available after 4 ratings
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Summary HBO's documentary tells the chilling story of Abu Zubaydah, the first high-value detainee subjected to the CIA's program of Enhanced Interrogation Techniques (EITs), later identified as torture by those outside the agency. Having never been charged with a crime or allowed to challenge his detention, Zubaydah remains imprisoned at Guantán...

Directed By: Alex Gibney

Where to Watch

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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 4 Critic Reviews
75
75% Positive
3 Reviews
25% Mixed
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews

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

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 4 Critic Reviews
75
75% Positive
3 Reviews
25% Mixed
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
90
Dec 6, 2021
The Forever Prisoner asks the right questions regarding not just Zubaydah but the broader prosecution of the war against terrorism. As the film makes clear, it's the answers that have proven elusive.
By Brian Lowry FULL REVIEW
88
Dec 6, 2021
The extremes uncovered in this film become revealing of what we accept as necessary, in what we as a nation rationalize as justice even without procedure. It is eye-opening, and yet also like Gibney’s best work, affirming in the worst ways.
By Nick Allen FULL REVIEW
83
Dec 3, 2021
Gibney’s challenging interview style, the uncompromising tone of his questions, and the way he undercuts Mitchell’s self-aggrandizing martyrdom (and conveniently murky timeline regarding the deployment of EITs in the field) are satisfying distillations of what so many people who recognize Mitchell as a war criminal who got away would probably like to say.
By Roxana Hadadi FULL REVIEW
60
Dec 29, 2021
Nothing in The Forever Prisoner feels all that revelatory, but the thing that’s essential in the doc is the reminder that for all of the story’s familiarity, it reflects a situation that has been barely ameliorated over more than a decade.
By Daniel Fienberg FULL REVIEW

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Details

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Production Company HBO Documentary Films, Jigsaw Productions
Release Date Dec 6, 2021
Duration 1 h 59 m
Genres
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Awards

News & Documentary Emmy Awards
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination

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