
News
Share
Published 17:12 19 May 2025 BST
Updated 17:18 19 May 2025 BST

American Manhunt: Osama bin Laden is sitting pretty in the elite 100% club on Rotten Tomatoes.
The latest instalment of Netflix's true-crime documentary series American Manhunt - following The Boston Marathon Bombing and OJ Simpson - this unmissable three-episoder explores the aftermath of 9/11, when the US tracked down and eliminated the eponymous Al-Qaeda figurehead.
Splicing together archival, behind-the-scenes footage with talking head interviews, the show paints a vivid picture of critical governmental decision-making.
"It's bracingly tense and raucously entertaining because we know the outcome and can agree on its morality; the earlier legwork establishing bin Laden's monstrous bona fides pays off. The masterstroke of this series is reducing complex American foreign policy to cinematic simplicity, the good guys versus the baddest guy of all."
Its Rotten Tomatoes rating is based on five reviews at the time of writing.
Speaking to Tudum, co-directors Mor Loushy and Daniel Sivan explained the intentions behind making this white-knuckle documentary.
"For us, the best way to understand history is to truly experience it," they began.
"Being thrown into the driver's seat after the worst attack in American history would rattle anyone, even these brave men and women who had devoted their lives to protecting Americans by assessing geopolitical threats and sounding alarms that were often ignored. But the intelligence analysts didn't have time to grieve or reflect. They had a mission at hand: to figure out who did this and stop them before the next attack.
"American Manhunt: Osama bin Laden does not tell the story of the United States and the War on Terror. It tells the story of the people tasked to find the world's most wanted terrorist and bring him to justice. It [was] a hunt that changed their lives, America, and the world as we know it."
Explore more on these topics:
Referring to Oscar-winning filmmaker Katheryn Bigelow's Hollywood dramatisation, which was released in 2012, Ready Steady Cut's review reads: "If Zero Dark Thirty has long held the crown for the most riveting depiction of this raid, American Manhunt: Osama bin Laden might nick it with a near feature-length final episode that is absolutely stellar documentary filmmaking.


The JOE Film Club Quiz: Week 100
Entertainment

The JOE Film Club Quiz: Week 99
Entertainment

The JOE Film Club Quiz: Week 98
Entertainment

All the animals shortlisted to feature on new banknotes
Some are excluded The public can have their say on which creatures feature on future banknotes, as eighteen animals, birds and insects have been shortlisted to appear. On the next series of Bank of England notes, the wildlife beauty contest gives the colourful kingfisher and common frog an equal chance of a place. Earlier this […]
News
15h
Why Google wants to release 32,000,000 infected mosquitoes into the wild
It’s not quite as crazy as it sounds Google wants to release 32,000,000 disease-infected mosquitoes into the wild. Yes, you heard that right, and while this may sound like the evil masterplan of a crazed villain, the project is actually one of goodwill for the betterment of humanity. For thousands of years, humans have been […]
News
16h
KSI revealed heartbreaking reason why he is leaving Sidemen before announcement
News