20 Days in Mariupol (2023 – Documentary) | REVIEW

Directed by Mstyslav Chernov.

Ever since I first saw Mstyslav Chernov’s on-the-ground documentary 20 Days in Mariupol in early January, I have been unable to shake it. Sure, one might argue that the reason for that is that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is still very much ongoing and is all over the news every single day. While it is true that I am already constantly thinking about the Russo-Ukrainian conflict, and I would be even if I hadn’t seen this documentary, the haunting images of Chernov’s film echo inside of my head whenever I think about the cost of life in Ukraine. Mstyslav Chernov’s documentary, which chronicles the twenty days that Chernov and his colleagues were on the ground covering the Russian invasion in the city of Mariupol, is the kind of film you don’t forget, but it is also the kind of film that you absolutely mustn’t look away from — it is vital that you watch this.

“War is like an X-ray. All humans insides become visible. Good people become better. Bad people become worse.”

You may recognize certain video footage in the film, which is, obviously, because part of the documentary is about the struggle to get the footage to the rest of the world. As the documentary eventually pinpoints, the information war (or information terrorism as one individual calls it) is constantly being waged. Still, this documentary and its footage are so raw, so real, and so distressing that all of the Russian claims about them being ‘fake news’ and that bombed hospitals are ‘film sets’ lose all credibility — that is, if you ever actually were unsure, for even a second, about what the truth was here. 

You see the Russian invasion up close, you witness communities break down and become less civilized, and the painful loss of life showcased is so frighteningly brutal that you can feel it punching a hole through your soul. You’ll find yourself shaking from the effort with which you hope with all of your heart that medical professionals can bring life back to children and other civilians, and you’ll never be the same after you’ve watched doctors try and fail to save someone whose life has barely begun. It is a heartbreaking, harrowing, intense, and bleak experience to sit through, but it is also absolutely vital that you choose to accept your duty to take the time to watch it. To witness it.

If there is anything that doesn’t fully work about this documentary, it may be its use of music. I get what it was intended to do, but sometimes it does feel too much like a horror fiction film piece overlaid onto a documentary that can absolutely stand on its own. I doubt that you will see a 2023 film that is tougher to watch than 20 Days in Mariupol, but for as tough as it is to watch, it is equally essential as it puts you in the headspace of being on the ground, it puts the realities of the invasion right up to your face, and it is a perfect example of the importance of great eyewitness journalism in a time of distress, propaganda, and loss of life. Haunting. For me, this is easily the best documentary filmmaking of its release year.

8.5 out of 10

– Review Written by Jeffrey Rex Bertelsen.