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Retrograde

2022

Documentary

7.2

Documentary The story of the last months of the 20-year war in Afghanistan through the intimate relationship between American Green Berets and the Afghan officers they trained.

	Media	Author	Review
		Peter Debruge Variety	"Over the past two decades, we've gotten more Afghanistan documentaries than we can count, but none of them looks quite like this"
		Robert Abele Los Angeles Times	"Heineman's trust in what his camera reveals tells its own necessary story of war wreckage"
		Sophia McClennen Salon	"The film offers an intimate, chilling portrait of the colossal failures, human costs and destructive consequences of the abrupt end to America's longest war"
		Daniel Fienberg The Hollywood Reporter	"A beautiful glimpse into —if not in-depth enough to be a true examination of— a tragedy"
		Emma Stefansky IndieWire	"An unflinching look (...) The film feels like a closer look than normal at the machine of armed conflict"
		Katie Walsh The Wrap	"What does 'bring home the troops' actually look like after 20 years? As Heineman shows us in 'Retrograde', a war film that is completely unique in its candor and tone, it looks like a lot of unnecessary pain, suffering, and loss"
		Nicolas Rapold The New York Times	"A shrewdly observant film"
		Charles Bramesco The Playlist	"This is an American-made narrative, and though Heineman harbors some measure of critical intent toward our government and its rash decision-making, he still takes their line at face value"
		Leslie Felperin The Guardian	"Extraordinary insider’s view of US withdrawal from Afghanistan (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Michael O'Sullivan The Washington Post	"It is an impressive and yet enormously depressing achievement (...) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"
		Jordan Raup The Film Stage	"Riveting, distressing portrait of America’s desertion of Afghanistan (...) The results are a harrowing look at the aftermath of Biden’s decision"
		Sheila O'Malley rogerebert.com	"A deeply mournful film, and the focus on humans is why. Empires march through history and individual humans pay the price. The people of Afghanistan have paid the price over and over again (...) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"

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