Last Men Of Aleppo (EOTWS)

End Of The Week Shorts #46 extract: Last Men In Aleppo (2017)

As harrowing as some of the images in this documentary are, as shocking and confounding as the facts of this documentary are, Last Men In Aleppo feels... off. 

I don't really want to criticise this, but it is contrived to the point that I had to remind myself I was watching a documentary at many points. With the vast majority of the film so clearly staged - or at least written up - this feels more like reality T.V than it does a documentary. The camera work, the cinematography, the conversations, the editing, all seem to want to capture Hollywood spectacle. The most truthful moment of the film comes when someone questions themselves, thinking that they were showing off. The rest feels like a half truth. There is indeed undeniable truth captured by Last Men In Aleppo, but it is entirely overshadowed by contrivance. Unfortunate, but true.