Assassins (2020)

"Thankfully, there’s also no History Channel narrator delivering hyperbole or cliche. Instead, expert journalists, defence lawyers, and occasionally the defendants describe the real-world fallout of what happens when a despot offs their brother using civilian patsies."

"This film is fairly straightforward and low-key in its execution, but the access is excellent - and what a story it tells."

"What an extraordinary story of sexism, violence, diplomatic bad faith and dishonesty on an international scale."

"A curious film, a no-frills documentary about a crime of outlandish aspect."

"An extraordinary snapshot of 15-minute celebrity innocently craved, and then accidentally achieved for all the wrong reasons."

"It's a fascinating news story, but the film's additional, if entertaining, speculations remain just that."

"It's like a John le Carre thriller for the Instagram generation. Only it's real."

"The thorough manner in which White has assembled the material brings one of the most unusual political assassinations ever carried out vividly to life."

"It will shock, enrage and enlighten."

"Ryan White's fascinating documentary chronicles plays like a political thriller..."

"Provocative as an examination of power."

"Its main virtues are a wild story and a stealth sense of outrage."

"[White] deftly untangles the different webs of meaning and implication, political, social and otherwise, to draw us into Siti and Doan's worlds."

"While informative, I never leaned forward and engaged with the events documented."

"The story is so outlandish — and the film so dry — that it’s hard not to be impressed by the discipline White showed in refusing to have more fun with it."

"Assassins is a terrific true-crime story, but it’s also a documentary thriller about the new world disorder."

"Ryan White crafts a piercingly observant investigative documentary that methodically pieces together a complex collage of incriminating evidence outlining a carefully orchestrated attempt to conceal the sinister implications behind Kim’s assassination."