Into the Abyss

"Dares to plumb the dark hole in America's soul. Herzog's investigation may not work as an anti-death-penalty editorial, but its findings are undeniably profound."

"Herzog's tapestry testifies to life's light from death's darkness. Its honest humanity and sideways-on character bare his illuminating imprint."

"Superficially resembles the kind of titillating, moralizing true-crime shockumentary that is a staple of off-hours cable television. But the grim ordinariness of the narrative makes its Dostoyevskian dimensions all the more arresting."

"It is a sombre, thoughtful, restrained and often powerful piece of work."

"May be the saddest film Werner Herzog has ever made. It regards a group of miserable lives, and in finding a few faint glimmers of hope only underlines the sadness."

"What is missing is something new - clarity, insight, outrage. Instead, its understatement is ultimately its undoing."

"Above all it's a portrait of stunned grief, of the devastation families endure, whether through violence, accidents, illness or incarceration."

"A haunting portrayal of people who are neither completely innocent nor wholly evil, and the terrible price of killing, whether in the pursuit of a sports car or in the name of justice."

"Powerfully suggests that violent death of any kind, whether personal or state-mandated, transforms everyone in its vicinity."