Our take
The Central Park Five is a harrowing documentation of the unseen narrative surrounding the 1989 Central Park Jogger case. Five men – four black and one of Hispanic descent – have been wrongly accused, tried, and convicted for the assault, rape, and sodomy of female jogger Trisha Meili the night of April 19. No (DNA) evidence was found implicating the involvement of any of the kids to the crime and no one could identify them, but because the crime was sensationalized by the masses and the authorities were put under pressure by the media to pin a name on the case, they settled with coercing a confession out of the juveniles. This is a telling of their tale years on.
What it won
Cannes
1 nom
Spirit Awards
1 nom
WGA
1 nom
Nat. Board of Review
1 win
NYFCC
1 win
The story
In 1989, five black and Latino teenagers from Harlem were arrested and later convicted of raping a white woman in New York City's Central Park. They spent between 6 and 13 years in prison before a serial rapist confessed that he alone had committed the crime, leading to their convictions being overturned. Set against a backdrop of a decaying city beset by violence and racial tension, this is the story of that horrific crime, the rush to judgment by the police, a media clamoring for sensational stories and an outraged public, and the five lives upended by this miscarriage of justice.
Elsewhere
"Central Park is at first discomforting, then enraging, then illuminating."
— David Denby
"A gripping investigative docu from co-directors Ken Burns, his daughter Sarah Burns and her husband, David McMahon."
— Alissa Simon
The details
The Other Dream Team
Marius A. Markevicius & Marius Markevicius
Maidentrip
Jillian Schlesinger
Fifi Howls from Happiness
Mitra Farahani
Uppity: The Willy T. Ribbs Story
Adam Carolla & Nate Adams
On the Record
Amy Ziering & Kirby Dick
Aswang
Alyx Ayn Arumpac
Gather
Sanjay Rawal
Wojnarowicz
Chris McKim
Who picked it
Christina Hale is a contributing writer at A Good Movie to Watch, focused on highlighting overlooked films and shows across the major streaming platforms. Her reviews emphasize craft and storytelling over algorithmic popularity.
