X
  • 2010
  • Unrated
  • Zeitgeist Films
  • 1 h 30 m
  • 2010
  • Unrated
  • Zeitgeist Films
  • 1 h 30 m

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 ...

Directed By: Laura Poitras

  • 2010
  • Unrated
  • Zeitgeist Films
  • 1 h 30 m
  • 2010
  • Unrated
  • Zeitgeist Films
  • 1 h 30 m

The Oath

Metascore Generally Favorable Based on 12 Critic Reviews
72
User Score Available after 4 ratings
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Where to Watch

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 ...

Directed By: Laura Poitras

Where to Watch

Top Cast

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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 12 Critic Reviews
72
83% Positive
10 Reviews
17% Mixed
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

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

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 12 Critic Reviews
72
83% Positive
10 Reviews
17% Mixed
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
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.
By Kerry Lengel FULL REVIEW
83
Her film is just as effective as a portrait of two unknowable, individual souls caught up in events of global scale.
By Marc Mohan FULL REVIEW
80
What emerges is an illuminating, though terribly dismaying, portrait of the War on Terror’s lasting effects. Whether one retreats or steps out defiantly, there is no sanctuary.
By Keith Uhlich FULL REVIEW
70
Who are these men, so eager for asceticism, violence, and martyrdom? At first, we think that’s what we’ll learn from The Oath, a fascinating documentary directed, produced, and shot by Laura Poitras. We don’t really, but what we do find out is of equal interest, and oddly reassuring.
By David Denby FULL REVIEW
70
It has staying power. In place of large revelations, you’ll find yourself remembering scenes like the one in which Abu Jandal sits absorbed by a news report of a bombing in Kabul, until his son requests a change of channel. It’s time for “Tom and Jerry.”
FULL REVIEW
70
Fascinating, however uneasy, viewing.
FULL REVIEW
50
By focusing on the human aspect of Al-Qaeda, The Oath does give the viewer something to think about, but the film is unsatisfying, raising questions and providing too few answers.
By Pam Grady FULL REVIEW

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Details

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Production Company Praxis Films, CBC News Network, ITVS International, P.O.V./American Documentary
Release Date May 7, 2010
Duration 1 h 30 m
Rating Unrated
Genres
Tagline Two Men. Bound to Al-Qaeda. Divided by Fate.
View All Details

Awards

Cinema Eye Honors Awards, US
• 1 Win & 4 Nominations
Sundance Film Festival
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
International Documentary Association
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations

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