“An impressive and highly relevant piece of filmmaking, Standard Operating Procedure shines light on a subject that may be distinctly ugly but which also needs to be both examined and understood.”
Tom Dawson | Channel 4 (UK)
“Morris explores the reality of Abu Ghraib with a visceral intensity that straightforward reportage could never allow.”
Jeff Shannon | Seattle Times
“A striking visual exercise—a meditation on the hold that seeing has over us as human beings.”
Mark Feeney | Boston Globe
“A riveting and damning film that doesn't excuse those in the photos, but rather pulls back to expose a larger, far more complex picture.”
Michael Kissinger | Vancouver Courier
“...Strikes a remarkable balance between art and disturbance, between beauty and pain.”
Kenneth Turan | Los Angeles Times
“This film is strong, direct in its message, and carefully crafted by Morris.”
Jonathan Nail | LAist.com
“For my money, then, Errol Morris is the greatest living documentary filmmaker.”
Jeffrey M. Anderson | Cinematical
“This is not a "political" film nor yet another screed about the Bush administration or the war in Iraq. It is driven simply, powerfully, by the desire to understand those photographs. (4 stars out of 4 )”
Roger Ebert | Chicago Sun-Times
“...A staggering work that traces the rotten blossom of this scandal close to its roots.”
Ty Burr | Boston Globe
“...Strikes a remarkable balance between art and disturbance, between beauty and pain.”
Kenneth Turan | Los Angeles Times
“...Indisputably an impressive piece of documentary filmmaking.”
Dana Stevens | Slate.com
“...Powerful, especially in a final sequence that stamps many of the photos either "Criminal" or "S.O.P.," in line with the film's title.”
Bob Mondello | NPR
“Standard Operating Procedure's subject matter, and what it says about the war in Iraq, is eye-opening.”
Claudia Puig | USA Today
“Morris ... generates a palpable, rich, unparalleled context to Abu Ghraib”
Mina Hochberg | AM New York
“"This film should be required watching for our elected and appointed officials.”
Jennifer Merin | About.com
“Morris does a public service by showing that these soldiers aren't the monsters you might expect.”
Rick Warner | Bloomberg.com
“This is a rare film that treats its audience like adults and doesn't dumb down big problems and offer simple explanations.”
Scott Feinberg | And the Winner is...
“The most chilling thing about the film ... is how hard it is to completely separate yourself from those guilty U.S. soldiers.”
Owen Gleiberman | Entertainment Weekly
“You probably won’t find a more illuminating account of what happened within the walls of Abu Ghraib.”
Rafer Guzman | Newsday
“Fascinating ... Morris forces us to ask ourselves what we would have done in their position, whether or not we like the answer.”
Christy Lemire | Associated Press
“A remarkably compelling narrative.” (3.5 out of 4 stars)
Glenn Kenny | Premiere
“It’s a truly important film, not so much for what it says politically but for what it dredges up emotionally.”
Dennis Dermody | Papermag.com
“This film has to be seen.”
Christopher Dickey | Newsweek
“See Standard Operating Procedure for its riveting narrative, for the way it keeps looping back—to the swirls of Danny Elfman’s night music—to the basement of Abu Ghraib.”
David Edelstein | New York Magazine
“Skillfully made ... searing.”
Cindy Adams | New York Post
“Among the best documentaries on the Iraq war”
David D’Arcy | ScreenDaily.com
“Blew me away…Standard Operating Procedure stunned from the first image of a sun setting on Abu Ghraib to the last image of the same sunset, with birds flying away.”
Karin Badt | The HuffingtonPost.com
“A cannily crafted but hauntingly persuasive portrait of the moral no-man’s-land that ignited the mortifying prisoner-abuse scandal.” (3.5 stars, out of 4)
Bill Weber | Slant Magazine
“A searing documentary about the prisoner abuse scandal at Iraq's Abu Ghraib jail.”
Agence-France Presse
