New ‘bracingly tense’ Netflix documentary lands perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes

This is the perfect documentary for fans of ‘Zero Dark Thirty’

A new documentary about Osama bin Laden has racked up a perfect score of 100 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes.

Titled American Manhunt: Osama bin Laden, it is the latest instalment in Netflix’s American Manhunt series. Previous iterations in the true crime saga include The Boston Marathon Bombing and OJ Simpson.

This three-parter explores the aftermath of 9/11 and the difficult decisions made by the US government. The docu-series includes a combination of archival and behind-the-scenes footage, alongside talking head interviews in order to draw a vivid picture of the government’s critical decision-making and then the eventual capture and death of Bin Laden in 2011.

The documentary features interviews, insights and recollections from former CIA, Department of Defense and FBI officials, as well as journalists and White House aides.

The co-directors, Mor Loushy and Daniel Sivan told Netflix’s Tudum website: “Our goal was to transport the viewers into these places, in real-time, and ask them: ‘What would you do?’ For us, the best way to understand history is to truly experience it.”

They added: “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.”

President Barack Obama, vice president Joe Biden, secretary of state Hillary Clinton and members of the national security team receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House on 1 May 2011 in Washington, DC (The White House)

One of the best-known portrayals of the real-life mission is the Hollywood dramatisation by Oscar-winning filmmaker Katheryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty (2012).

Ready Steady Cut’s review of the new documentary said: “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.”

Their reviewer Jonathon Wilson added: “It’s bracingly tense and raucously entertaining because we know the outcome and can agree on its morality [...]The masterstroke of this series is reducing complex American foreign policy to cinematic simplicity, the good guys versus the baddest guy of all.”

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Joel Keller of Decider wrote: “American Manhunt: Osama Bin Laden is informative, to be sure, and it gives insight into operations most people in the US knew nothing about.”

Osama bin Laden in an "undetermined mountain area" on Al-Jazeera TV on 10 September 2003 (Al-Jazeera)

The docu-series is currently available to watch on Netflix.