Three young women were sentenced to death in the infamous Manson murder case, but when the death penalty was lifted, their sentence became life imprisonment. One young graduate student was sent in to teach them - and through her we witness their transformations as they face the reality of their horrific crimes.... (Full plot summary below)
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Three young women were sentenced to death in the infamous Manson murder case, but when the death penalty was lifted, their sentence became life imprisonment. One young graduate student was sent in to teach them - and through her we witness their transformations as they face the reality of their horrific crimes.
Leave your thoughts about Charlie Says.
| The New York TimesManohla DargisIt’s a tough, difficult story that, anchored by Guinevere Turner’s script, Harron recounts with lucid calm, compassion and intelligent interpretive license. |
| Los Angeles TimesKatie WalshCharlie Says is a fascinating and feminist exploration of Manson’s first victims: the girls themselves. |
| The Film StageAlycia RipleyIn Charlie Says, Mary Harron presents the in-between life, the seemingly banal details that orchestrated this perfect storm of destruction. By including diverse female reactions to Manson, we understand more about what happened and how, had circumstances been even slightly altered, it might never have occurred in the first place. |
| The A.V. ClubKatie RifeFor as much as Charlie Says tries to reframe everything we know about the Manson Family, its characterization of the women remains shallow. |
| The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyAs a portrait of bogus revolutionary rhetoric used to undermine and control women, it’s thoughtful and provocative. |
| The TelegraphRobbie CollinThis is an innovative, occasionally provocative, often frustrating film, but one whose perspectives on guilt and victimhood offer a new angle on a notorious case. |
| Consequence of SoundClint WorthingtonMurray and Wever are as attuned to their roles as Smith is awkward and miscast in his. But perhaps that’s an appropriate fit for Harron and Turner’s divisive-yet-gripping take on this story: at the end of the day, the Manson women are deeper, more fascinating, and more worthy of exploration than the insecure man that connected them. |
| Rolling StoneDavid FearIf nothing else, Charlie Says puts Van Houten, and to a lesser extent her sisters in crime, in the center of their own story. |
| We Got This CoveredLuke ParkerCharlie Says may not reach deep enough into the horrors that birthed the Manson Family, but as an exhibit of pathetically prophetic garble used to dehumanize and control women, it’s attentive and provocative. |
| RogerEbert.comSimon AbramsCharlie Says loses much of its potency whenever it's not directly about the ordinary motives of the individual Manson clan members. |
