We are in the golden age of television, where more and more shows give us a quality that competes closely with the super productions of film studios. In fact, the television phenomenon is getting so big that even great directors and actors are collaborating in incredible series.

I emphasize that fact because the series I want to share today comes from the hand of a creative genius like Ava DuVernay who was responsible for bringing to television a documentary series with hundreds of contrasts of modern cinema and a story that will make us shake in many ways for its emotional moments.

When They See Us

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# The series begins in an overwhelming way with a super rough story, where many social factors come together that turn the facts into a bomb with really raw dyes and that from the second 1 will make us be part of it.

All the main facts of the story begin in April 1989, with an athlete suffering an assault and being seriously attacked by a gang of unknown men, which of course generates an intense police investigation that beyond resolving something ends up making everything worse by blaming 5 black boys for an alleged crime that none of them committed. Something that as you can imagine causes a social explosion of great proportions since it takes us immediately into issues of racism, xenophobia, and prejudice. Without forgetting that the press of the time instead of collaborating make everything worse by putting the young boys at the top of a witch hunt that could have been easily avoided.

As it happens today, the press has a very important role in the story, as it takes advantage of the facts to generate hundreds of reports that only raise more hatred to those kids who are being unjustly blamed for a crime that quickly turns into a racial battle.

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# As the series advances, little by little we are trapped in a spiral of emotions and incredible moments where we are constantly questioning the facts, all thanks to the incredible direction that the director Ava DuVernay gives to the story, filling it with raw scenes where the characters are rudely abused regardless of their age, since from the first moment they are cataloged as suspects their rights are trampled and more because they are part of a race that is seen as outsiders.

Besides that the story and the direction are wonderful, the performances are also excellent because they make us feel the story as if we were part of it, making our emotions take off constantly as we see how the boys and their families are treated.

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# However as almost every series not everything is perfection, and is that while we advance in the story the series is slowly losing a little strength and consistency, especially because at the beginning gives us a technical feast detailing all the wrongdoing of the police and press when investigating the facts and especially the suspects. Everything to focus on a racial battle that at times tires for being so recurrent and more when we feel it is set to lengthen the chapters that were already long.

Another thing that I didn't like very much is that there is a scene that seems to be repeated to be shown in different ways, and the truth is that although the scene is great for the impact it generates in the moment, I didn't like having to see it twice so quickly, it's like they wanted to take advantage of something that they knew would work.

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# In general, this is one of those series that if you are a fan of cinema and television has to watch, because its plot, its direction, its performances are combined with a soundtrack that evokes sentiment and emotion. The director takes a story that was already raw when it came to light and turns it into a detailed, sentimental and exciting view of events that shook a country.

But above all what stands out most in the series is the way it makes us part of the facts by showing us the most disadvantaged faces in this type of crime where not only those who are investigated suffer but also where their families are burdened with threats and situations that make them suffer a lot.

A series that gives us something more than entertainment, which forces us to reflect on how we act and think in certain situations and above all makes us think if trusting the press is always the right thing to do.

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My Review: 9/10

# * **Movie URL:** https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/81355-when-they-see-us?language=en-US * **Critic: AAA**

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