ShangLuda Admirable film.

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

backura This film has to be worst documentary I have ever seen. The filmmaker presented as fact, witness accounts that were later recanted and were in direct contradiction of the evidence. "Hands up, don't shoot" was a lie. This film is pure race-baiting propaganda and lies.

kurschybee This is a very one sided piece. Writer/director contradicts himself regarding evidence. This is an emotional piece, but it seems more vindictive vs fact/truth finding.

trublu215 I watched this as a part of the SXSW Film Festival in its documentary section and while the film did provide a little bit more clarity into Michael Brown as a person, it fails to deliver any concrete answers as to what exactly happened on the fateful day he was shot. Which was disappointing because, prior to the screening, director Jason Pollock bolstered that never-before-seen evidence would be shown and a mysterious video that will shatter the public perception of the case. This proved to be very much reaching for nothing as the "earth shattering" revelation that is revealed is a very grainy and very blurry video that leaves more questions than answers. The film interviews the Brown family and the many friends he had. While this paints a very perfect light around Michael Brown and it is very wrong to speak ill of the dead, the film gives off an angelic vibe as if Michae Brown was more of a saint than anything else. This was a huge issue for me as a viewer because after forty minutes of glowing things to be said about him, never once was there any adverse interviews. There wasn't anything in the film that put him at fault for anything. It gave off a very one sided and biased depiction of the young man. While I am far from any which side of this matter, it would have been nice to hear more real things about him instead of parading family and friends in front of a camera in hopes of capturing more of a tribute video instead of an investigative documentary. This spins the film into an unintentionally frustrating chain of events from what happened to Michael Brown to the Grand Jury decision. The film's target is very clear from this point on. It isn't about Michael Brown after this, it is about the police and the brutality they enforce on the community in which Brown was a member of.Then, at the last 10 minutes, director Jason Pollock decides to introduce more questions into his death by way of this video from the store in which Brown allegedly robbed before he was shot. Even then, director Jason Pollock fails to really captivate the audience because the video itself proves nothing but the narrative of the film seems to push the idea that it does. Either way, the documentary's big reveal is a big bust and makes the entire documentary feel very trivial especially when there is such little amount of film left. To introduce something as amazing as Pollock makes it out to be as late as he introduces it not only makes the film frustrating, it leaves us feeling like we watched a singular episode of something much bigger which is the most frustrating part of all. Overall, this documentary is more like a tribute to Michael Brown and as that, it works. But as an investigative documentary, it is paper thin. Ideas go nowhere, are over sensationalized or are simply too vague to even decode or both, either way this is a film that misses a huge mark. While many expecting a documentary like Making a Murderer or The Jinx will walk away from this very disappointed, like I have. However, if you want to know more about Michael Brown and who he was, then this film will surely peak your interests. For me, I wished the film was what it promised to be.

JustCuriosity Stranger Fruit was extremely well-received in its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, TX. In many ways it provides Michael Brown with his day in court that he was denied by the actions of the authorities in Ferguson, MO. Michael Brown's 2014 was a tragedy and it seems clear that authorities prevented the full truth from coming to light. They dissect the available evidence to show how Officer Darren Wilson likely lied about the shooting to justify his own actions. More importantly they document the institutional racism that likely led County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch to intentionally act in a manner that led the grand jury not to indict Officer Wilson. There is a lot that has been said about these events, but this film provides a highly accessible visual accounting of this controversy. It should be widely viewed, because it is crucial for the public to get a real accounting of these important and controversial historical events.Many of the details of these remain murky, but this film certainly provides a clearer look at these events than most Americans have seen before. It corrects some of the misinformation that have been spread about Michael Brown. Unfortunately, it is hard to call it a fully objective accounting. The film was clearly made in cooperation with the family and supporters and sometimes allows its rhetoric to exceed its facts. There are sometimes where it appears to exaggerate. It tries to make Michael Brown into a saint instead of an ordinary person. Some of the connections drawn among peripheral players are conspiratorial without real evidence. In one place where they compare statistics, they state that there are over 1100 police killings annually in the U.S. compared to only 14 in China. While the U.S. figure may well be true (and should be unacceptable), it is absurd to accept such a statistic from the authoritarian Chinese authorities as a reliable point of comparison. Their comments in the screenings also present the director more as an agenda-driven advocate than as objective film maker. Again, this is unfortunate, because it makes it more difficult for people to fully believe the film's interpretation. This is an important story that deserves to be told in an objective manner. While Stranger Fruit does add some important detail to the story, Michael Moore- style documentaries that start from the conclusion they want to reach lack the neutrality to fully answer the unanswered questions. Michael Brown deserves to have his tragic story told and this film partly does so, but a better more objective accounting is still needed.