American Manhunt: The Boston Marathon Bombing is a docuseries encapsulating the aftermath of the titular tragedy that occurred on April 15, 2013. Two pressure cooker bombs went off near the finish line, killing three people and injuring several others.
Story
American Manhunt: The Boston Marathon Bombing is a systematic retelling of the gruesome terrorist attack that took place on April 15, 2013. Two pressure cooker bombs went off near the marathon’s finish line at 2:49 p.m., killing three and severely maiming numerous people.
The perpetrators were a pair of brothers, Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who were self-radicalized Chechen Kyrgyzstani Americans. Through its three episodes, the docuseries revisits the tragedy and immediately delves deep into the manhunt for the brothers that followed as the city of Boston came together.
It also examines the brothers’ histories and features interviews with concerned law enforcement officials, marathon runners, victims, journalists, legal experts, and many others as they gather the pieces to this horrifying jigsaw.
Positives
There are a lot of merits to this well-made docuseries. American Manhunt: The Boston Marathon Bombing doesn’t waste any time with cinematic buildups or unnecessary drama and gets straight to the point.
The pacing is superb as the three, one-hour-long episodes fly by before you even realize it. The retelling of events is precise and extremely engaging. Interviews are well put together and aid the narrative’s flow instead of hindering it.
American Manhunt approaches the subject matter from various angles, leaving no stone unturned. It covers religious bias concerning Islam, legal approaches, and repercussions, and the history of the Tsarnaev brothers, among other things.
As the events unfold throughout the episodes, we get a very clear picture of what followed the bombings. From digital footage analysis, clashes of opinions between leading officers and discovering the identity of the suspects to interrogations, fake news outpour, murder of an MIT Police Department officer, a kidnapped victim, an all-out shootout in a residential area, an intense manhunt, and more.
The docuseries recreates some CCTV footage to aid the narration, and it’s hard to figure out which part was shot for the series as everything blends seamlessly.
Negatives
There are some moments when the documentary doesn’t shy away from showcasing the suspects like villains from a thriller film. These moments are few but fall disastrously flat.
It is cringy to see the camera zoom into an actor’s blurred face as they pretend to be one of the brothers in a perfectly ordinary setting with unnecessarily heightened suspense music.
Verdict
American Manhunt: The Boston Marathon Bombing is a must-watch and another feather in Netflix’s cap. It is a worthy addition to the streamer’s documentary library with its seamless and to-the-point direction. Furthermore, going through it is equally informative, thrilling, and gut-wrenching.
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