Totally Under Control

Name: Totally Under Control
Genre: Documentary
Released: October 13, 2020
Duration: 123 min
Rating: 80

2020

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 26 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 17 Ratings

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6.7

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6.7	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 17 Ratings

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Totally Under Control

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Movie Details & Credits

Neon | Release Date (Streaming): October 13, 2020 | Not Rated

Summary: On January 20th, 2020 the US and South Korea both discovered their first cases of COVID-19. However, 9 months later, the novel Coronavirus has claimed the lives of over 200,000 Americans and caused staggering economic damage, while in South Korea, there were no significant lockdowns and, in an urbanized population of 51 million, only 344On January 20th, 2020 the US and South Korea both discovered their first cases of COVID-19. However, 9 months later, the novel Coronavirus has claimed the lives of over 200,000 Americans and caused staggering economic damage, while in South Korea, there were no significant lockdowns and, in an urbanized population of 51 million, only 344 lives have been lost. Where did we go wrong? As the presidential election nears, Americans are increasingly enraged by a lack of clear leadership, endemic political corruption and left to wonder how did the wealthiest and most powerful country in the world manage to fail so thoroughly in its response to a global pandemic? … Expand

Director: Alex Gibney and Ophelia Harutyunyan and Suzanne Hillinger

Genre(s): Documentary

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 123 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Ty Burr

Oct 12, 2020

The movie is enraging, necessary, and above all, useful. Read full review

Leah Greenblatt

Oct 7, 2020

The movie’s title, by the way, comes from the president’s own evaluation of his handling of the virus, a phrase he proudly repeated more than once. Read full review

Justin Chang

Oct 7, 2020

It is hardly the fault of this breathless, incisive and thoroughly infuriating movie that it already feels a touch out of date. How could it not? Read full review

Peter Debruge

Oct 7, 2020

Subsequent docs will surely tell a different story, after survivors have risen up and confronted the individual they deem responsible — and Gibney et al. want this film to be instrumental in that solution. Read full review

Empire Ian Freer

Oct 23, 2020

An early entry into documenting Covid-19, Totally Under Control doesn’t have all the answers, but it is a vital, powerful examination of how one political administration could get something so wrong by ignoring the experts. Read full review

Ann Hornaday

Oct 13, 2020

Matters of objective science and empirical observation have now become so mired in partisanship, authoritarian narrative and conspiracy blather that even a film this judicious and straightforwardly informative feels doomed to reach no further than its own self-selected constituency. Read full review

The Guardian Charles Bramesco

Oct 7, 2020

All said, there are less educational ways to raise your blood pressure for two hours, and the masochistic Twitter-refreshers nourishing themselves with a steady drip of maddening headlines will have plenty to fume over. Starting with the sniggering title, this torturous rehashing of yesterday’s history all seems to be for them. Read full review

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User Reviews

XSergeantD

Oct 20, 2020

Do you wish to remember how we got into the situation we are in? We get a walk-thru of all the missteps which happened, from political, to scientific, to logistics which brought the greatest country in the world down to its knees. It may not be the entire story nor a full timeline, but itDo you wish to remember how we got into the situation we are in? We get a walk-thru of all the missteps which happened, from political, to scientific, to logistics which brought the greatest country in the world down to its knees. It may not be the entire story nor a full timeline, but it reminds us how failing to follow plans or to failing to learn from history ended up in a national mess… Expand

1 of 3 users found this helpful12

ajmich54

Oct 13, 2020

Madness and greed exposed with sincerity and intelligence. The truth is out now -- if any doubt remains for the masses of non-voters (100 million in 2016) and the undecided. This meticulous film can be wince-inducing as it carefully assembles the disgusting FACTS that finally make it clearlyMadness and greed exposed with sincerity and intelligence. The truth is out now -- if any doubt remains for the masses of non-voters (100 million in 2016) and the undecided. This meticulous film can be wince-inducing as it carefully assembles the disgusting FACTS that finally make it clearly understandable just how the US government, corrupted under Trump, completely failed us with their shockingly pathetic, deadly mishandling of the pandemic response. Those who have been on the front lines are seen & heard leveling with the people, telling it like it is. Not to be overlooked by any sane individual. Get the word out.… Expand

1 of 3 users found this helpful12

Knowledge

Oct 19, 2020

It's a great review at all that happened this year and adds context to everything that was going on. Seeing it all play out in 2 hours really puts it into perspective. The content had me pretty angry, but it's so well done and kept me engaged the whole way through.

1 of 3 users found this helpful12

Gdgip

Oct 22, 2020

It would be a no frills slog if each account wasn’t as head shaking as the last. What I thought was incompetence at the time was purposeful denial. Inexcusable

1 of 3 users found this helpful12

JLuis_001

Oct 31, 2020

Some have succeeded, others have failed miserably.
The new increase in outbreaks makes it very clear. And it's that beyond the mistakes of many administrations around the world, and especially that of the US, which is the subject of this documentary, something that this virus has taught meSome have succeeded, others have failed miserably.
The new increase in outbreaks makes it very clear. And it's that beyond the mistakes of many administrations around the world, and especially that of the US, which is the subject of this documentary, something that this virus has taught me is that yes, our leaders are sons of **** but society is also equally guilty.

This pandemic has shown me that there are people in the world who really are pieces of **** because I don't know when it became more important to show that you have the freedom to disrespect others, rather than show that you have the education to respect them.
If it's tyranny to wear a mask, I can't even begin to fathom what would they do if they were to face real tyranny. Saving and respecting lives shouldn't have an agenda.… Expand

1 of 4 users found this helpful13

theredsky

Dec 9, 2020

This is a controversial topic. A lot of people have criticized the Trump administration’s handling of the pandemic while others have praised it. This film goes for the critical approach while also presenting evidence to back this up. I’ll try my best to keep personal politics out of it andThis is a controversial topic. A lot of people have criticized the Trump administration’s handling of the pandemic while others have praised it. This film goes for the critical approach while also presenting evidence to back this up. I’ll try my best to keep personal politics out of it and review it as a documentary but as a documentary, it succeeded. There is a lot of bombshell information here that the public should see. The US’s response to this pandemic was absolutely terrible and this highlights what exactly happened. On surface level, some might assume that this film only attacks President Trump and conservatives but you would be wrong. This film attacks both sides for its handling like Congress’s stalling to get a stimulus passed and Obama’s handling of the national stockpile. The information is presented in an interesting and engaging way 75% of the time. For the other 25%, it had a hard time keeping me engaged because it was telling me information that I already knew or the documentary had presented earlier but what this documentary does well is land bombshell after bombshell after bombshell. I don’t want to spoil any of these bombshells. My only other issue was some weird editing and stylistic choices that felt off at times but it’s more of a nitpick. I urge you guys to check this out and to hear out the information although if you consider yourself right leaning, you might not like it as much.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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