| Captivated: The Trials of Pamela Smart | |
|---|---|
Film poster
| |
| Directed by | Jeremiah Zagar |
| Produced by | Lori Cheatle Gabriel Sedgwick |
| Cinematography | Naiti Gámez |
| Edited by | Keiko Deguchi |
| Music by | Zoë Keating |
Production |
Hard Working Movies |
| Distributed by | HBO |
Release date |
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Running time | 102 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Captivated: The Trials of Pamela Smart is a 2014 American documentary film directed by Jeremiah Zagar.[1] The film premiered in competition in the category of U.S. Documentary Competition program at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 17, 2014.[2]
The film premiered on August 18, 2014 on HBO.[3]
The film tells the story of the 1990 murder of Gregg Smart and the subsequent New Hampshire trial and conviction, with gavel to gavel media coverage, of murderer Pamela Smart.[4]
The film received mostly positive response from critics. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes it has 63% rating based on 8 reviews, on an average rating of 7.2/10.[5] Dennis Harvey, in his review for Variety, said that "This is all intriguing, and will especially fascinate those who weren’t around and overexposed to the case 20-odd years ago. But Zagar’s thesis — that overpowering media exploitation determined its legal outcome early on — is introduced in the very first shot, then hammered home harder the longer the pic goes on."[6]
Duane Byrge of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a positive review, calling it a "[s]mart indictment of the media’s sensationalistic influence on the murder trial of Pamela Smart."[7] Beth Hanna from Indiewire in her review said that "Everything, from the nightly newscasts that feverishly covered Smart’s case to Zagar’s own film, is an edited story."[8]
