The third installment in Netflix’s landmark documentary series American Manhunt has critics raving and audiences rushing to binge the three-episode series.
Since its release on May 14, American Manhunt: Osama bin Laden has shot to the top of the Netflix charts, holding the top stop not just in the US, but globally, with an estimated 12.6 million views in its first week.
It’s hardly surprising, considering critics are hailing it as one of the best Netflix shows around at the moment, earning the doc a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Directed by Daniel Sivan and Mor Loushy, the series details the hunt for, and eventual raid on the compound of, al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden in the decade that followed the events of September 11, 2001.
Bin Laden was eventually “compromised to a permanent end” on May 2, 2011, but, as per Netflix’s synopsis, “less is known about what happened in between, and what operatives, officials, and counterterrorism experts faced in order to capture and bring down one of the most notorious terrorists in modern history.”
This is what the documentary sets out to explore, focusing on the individuals whose 10-year hunt involved tough decisions and swift actions, and transporting the viewer to the secure spaces in which intelligence operatives and Special Forces undertook a global pursuit of the world’s most wanted man.
Over the three episodes, the audiences hear from some of these men and women, with interviews with former CIA, Department of Defense and FBI officials such as Leon Panetta and Henry A. Crumpton, White House staffers of the era including Ben Rhodes and the journalists, like ABC reporter John Miller, who covered the ever evolving events.
The show tells “the story of the people tasked to find the world’s most wanted terrorist and bring him to justice” say Sivan and Loushy, “it [was] a hunt that changed their lives, America, and the world as we know it.”
What are the critics saying about American Manhunt: Osama bin Laden?
As evidenced by the doc’s perfect Rotten Tomatoes score, critics have nothing but praise for the show, which Ready Steady Cut called “absolutely stellar documentary filmmaking.”
Decider’s review shows that Sivan and Loushy have hit their mark attempting to tell the untold story of the operation, saying American Manhunt: Osama bin Laden “gives insight into operations most people in the US knew nothing about,” while San Francisco Chronicle called it a “a useful, riveting documentary docuseries.”
What’s the subscriber’s verdict?
However, the response from viewers has been a little more muted, with the show currently sitting at just a 56% RT Audience Score.
One reviewer on the site criticized the lack of focus on the troops on the ground, saying “There is very little about the Seals [sic] who risked their lives but a great deal of preening and posturing by the politicians,” while others wished the show covered pre-9/11 US involvement with the al-Qaida leader in more depth: “Bin Laden and the US is part of history before the plane crash too. The documentary doesn’t delve into that subject nearly enough.”
Reddit users had a more positive response to the show, however, with one poster calling it “a solid 10/10 series” and another saying simply “must watch” while a third stated “I got goosebumps. I cried. I clapped […] very powerful.”
As with the first two installments of the American Manhunt series – The Boston Marathon Bombing and O.J. Simpson – it seems one of the best streaming services have delivered a gripping documentary detailing the untold aspects of a headline-dominating event in recent U.S. history.
All three episodes, along with previous seasons, can be streamed on Netflix right now.
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For more Netflix TV show-based coverage, read our guides on Stranger Things season 5, One Piece season 2, Squid Game season 3, and Knives Out 3.
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