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When They See Us

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When They See Us
GenreDrama
Created byAva DuVernay
Written by
Directed byAva DuVernay
Starring
ComposerKris Bowers[1]
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes4 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
CinematographyBradford Young
Editors
Camera setupSingle-camera
Running time64–88 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkNetflix
ReleaseMay 31, 2019 (2019-05-31)

When They See Us (originally Central Park Five) is a 2019 American drama web television miniseries created, co-written, and directed by Ava DuVernay for Netflix, that premiered on May 31, 2019. The series is based on events of the 1989 Central Park jogger case and explores the lives of the families of and the five male suspects who were prosecuted on charges related to the rape and assault of a white woman. The series features an ensemble cast including Jharrel Jerome, Jovan Adepo, Michael K. Williams, Logan Marshall-Green, Joshua Jackson, Blair Underwood, Vera Farmiga, John Leguizamo, Felicity Huffman, Niecy Nash, Aunjanue Ellis, and Kylie Bunbury. The series received acclaim for its performances and casting.

A companion special, titled Oprah Winfrey Presents When They See Us Now, premiered on June 12, 2019, on Netflix and the Oprah Winfrey Network.[2]

Premise

When They See Us is based on events of the 1989 Central Park jogger case and explores the lives of the five suspects who were prosecuted on charges related to her assault, and their families. The five juvenile males of colour, the protagonists of the series Kevin Richardson (Asante Blackk), Antron McCray (Caleel Harris), Yusef Salaam (Ethan Herisse), Korey Wise (Jharrel Jerome), and Raymond Santana (Marquis Rodriguez), were divided into two groups for trial. Each was convicted by juries of various charges of rape, assault, and related crimes in 1990. They were sentenced to maximum terms. Korey Wise, at 16, was immediately sent to adult prison.

After the assailant was identified in 2002 by confession, DNA evidence, and other evidence, the DA's office requested that the court vacate the convictions of the five men (a legal position in which the parties are treated as though no trial has taken place). By that time, all the men had served their sentences except Korey Wise. The state withdrew all charges against them from the 1989 case. They filed a suit against the city for wrongful conviction and were awarded a settlement in 2014. They also filed a suit against the state, and received a settlement in 2016. This was not covered in the miniseries.[3]

Cast and characters

Main

Recurring

Guest

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal release date
1"Part One"Ava DuVernayTeleplay by : Ava DuVernay & Julian Breece and Robin Swicord
Story by : Ava DuVernay & Julian Breece		May 31, 2019 (2019-05-31)
Five adolescents (Raymond, Kevin, Korey, Yusef, and Antron) are shown in their comfortable, familiar residential neighborhood of Harlem, bantering with each other and playing. They are picked up by police in a sweep of the park after several assaults against other users that night, but it is not until later that the injured jogger is found, and pressure increases.
2"Part Two"Ava DuVernayTeleplay by : Ava DuVernay & Julian Breece and Attica Locke
Story by : Ava DuVernay & Julian Breece		May 31, 2019 (2019-05-31)
The New York City police are shown exerting pressure on the five youths to confess, setting them against one another, talking to them without parents or counsel present, and struggling with evidence. The brutal assault of the jogger has increased pressure on the police to solve the crime and on the prosecutor to take it to trial and gain convictions. Suggestions are made that the timelines, conflicting accounts, and lack of substantive evidence do not support the case, but the juries convict each of the youths of most charges.
3"Part Three"Ava DuVernayTeleplay by : Ava DuVernay and Robin Swicord
Story by : Ava DuVernay		May 31, 2019 (2019-05-31)
Antron, Yusef, Kevin, and Raymond struggle with being in prison. They eventually are released after serving time and have difficulty adjusting to life outside.
4"Part Four"Ava DuVernayTeleplay by : Ava DuVernay & Michael Starrbury
Story by : Ava DuVernay		May 31, 2019 (2019-05-31)
Korey is in adult prison and has the most difficult experiences, choosing the difficulty of isolation cells over repeated assaults by others. In 2002 the assailant confesses, his DNA matches the evidence, and other evidence fits his account. The convictions of the five are vacated. They file a suit against the city, for which they receive a settlement in 2014. Their later lives, detailing marriages, work, social justice activism, and other activities, are summarized. Four of the five move away from the city to make their lives elsewhere.

Special

TitleDirected byOriginal release date
"Oprah Winfrey Presents: When They See Us Now"Mark RitchieJune 12, 2019 (2019-06-12)
Oprah Winfrey interviews the main cast and executive producers of When They See Us, and the exonerated five.

Production

Development

On July 6, 2017, it was announced that Netflix had given the production Central Park Five a series order consisting of five episodes. The series was created by Ava DuVernay who is also set to write and direct. Executive producers were expected to include DuVernay, Jeff Skoll, Jonathan King, Oprah Winfrey, Jane Rosenthal and Berry Welsh. Production companies involved with the series were set to include Participant Media, Harpo Films, and Tribeca Productions.[5] On July 9, 2018, it was reported that the series would consist of four episodes, Bradford Young would serve as the series' cinematographer, and that Robin Swicord, Attica Locke, and Michael Starrbury would cowrite each episode with DuVernay.[6]

On March 1, 2019, DuVernay announced the series had been retitled When They See Us and would be released on May 31, 2019. The announcement was accompanied by the release of a teaser.[7]

Casting

In July 2018, it was announced that Michael K. Williams, Vera Farmiga, John Leguizamo, Felicity Huffman, Jharrel Jerome, and Jovan Adepo had joined the series' main cast.[6][8] On August 3, 2018, it was reported that Niecy Nash, Aunjanue Ellis, Kylie Bunbury, Marsha Stephanie Blake, and Storm Reid had been cast in supporting roles.[9] A week later, it was announced that Chris Chalk, Ethan Herisse, Marquis Rodriguez, Caleel Harris, Freddy Miyares, Justin Cunningham and Asante Blackk had filled out the main cast, both as adults and as teenagers.[10] By the end of the month, it was reported that Joshua Jackson, Christopher Jackson, Adepero Oduye, Omar Dorsey, Blair Underwood, Famke Janssen, William Sadler, and Aurora Perrineau had also joined the cast.[11]

Filming

Principal photography for the series began during the week of August 6, 2018, in New York City, New York, with cinematography by Bradford Young.[10] On August 10, 2018, filming took place on Madison Avenue in the East Harlem area of Manhattan.[12]

Reception

The miniseries received critical acclaim upon its release. The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 95% based on 57 reviews, with an average rating of 8.34/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Ava DuVernay pulls no punches in When They See Us, laying out the harrowing events endured by the Central Park Five while adding a necessary layer of humanity to their story that challenges viewers to reconsider what it means to find justice in America."[13] On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 87 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "universal acclaim."[14]

Daniel D'Addario from Variety mentioned in a glowing review of the miniseries, that "When They See Us immerses viewers in a tale with none of the gaudy fun that true crime often offers. It’s an achievement and, given its pride of place on a streaming service despite its difficult subject matter, a worthy use of its director’s star power."[15] Roger Ebert's Odie Henderson awarded the series a rating of 3 and 1/2 out of four stars, noting that "there’s a lot to recommend When They See Us. It does as much as it can to recast the gaze on Black and brown people, eliciting empathy and the desire for justice. It demonizes the right people and demands your fury over the events presented."[16] Daniel Fienberg from The Hollywood Reporter recommended the miniseries in his review by highlighting that "When They See Us is a rigorous attempt to chronicle an epic legal failure and to help restore a sense of the men as individuals, rather than faceless members of a wrongfully accused collective." Commending DuVernay's thematic and thoughtful approach to the subject matter and content, he adds that the series avoids the "typical triumph-over-adversity narrative tropes".[17]

Matt Goldberg of Collider gave it a very positive review, writing: "The emotional impact of When They See Us cannot be understated." He said further, "I watched The Central Park Five earlier this month, and it’s a good way to understand the case and its basic facts, but even though [it] has interviews with all five men, it doesn’t come close to what DuVernay does here with this cast, her craftsmanship, and Bradford Young’s stunning cinematography."[18] Lucy Mangan from The Guardian complimented the miniseries, saying it is

"a dense, fast-moving series that examines not just the effects of systemic racism but the effects of all sorts of disenfranchisement (though you could argue they all have that same root cause) on people with the boys’ background. The lack of money that leads to inadequate lawyers and mothers unable to visit their sons incarcerated in distant places. The lifetime of fear and vulnerability that causes one parent to encourage his son to sign the confession so they can leave the station and sort things out later. The powerlessness in the face of an authority that doesn’t look like you or care about you."[19]

In a positive review of the miniseries, Jen Chaney from Vulture wrote that, "When They See Us, Ava DuVernay’s sensitively wrought Netflix miniseries about what happened to those boys, strips away the dehumanizing tendency to bunch them together and instead shows what each of them dealt with individually when they were coerced into giving false confessions, forced to do time for a crime they did not commit, and, eventually, exonerated when their convictions were vacated in 2002."[20]

Willa Paskin of Slate gave the series a positive recommendation, writing that "When They See Us may be making an appeal to our duty to attend to this not-at-all-ancient history—but is not, itself, dutiful. In one aspect, in particular, DuVernay’s approach is refreshingly unencumbered."[21] Robert Lloyd from Los Angeles Times praised the series, stating that it is "a story about parents and children as much as it is about justice and race — the series has plenty of contemporary resonance on the latter account — and there is strong work from Niecy Nash, John Leguizamo, Aunjanue Ellis and Michael Kenneth Williams among the older generation."[22]

Linda Fairstein, the original New York prosecutor of the case, wrote of the Netflix series in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal that it was "so full of distortions and falsehoods as to be an outright fabrication."[23][24]

Notes

  1. ^ Bunbury is credited as Angie Richardson though her legal name is Angela Cuffee.[4]

References

  1. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (June 10, 2019). "'When They See Us': How Composer Kris Bowers Evoked The Fear, Pain & Innocence In Ava DuVernay's Series – Crew Call Podcast". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  2. ^ ""Oprah Winfrey Presents When They See Us Now" to Premiere June 12 at 10P on OWN and Netflix". The Futon Critic. June 7, 2019. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
  3. ^ Fuster, Jeremy (June 9, 2019). "Central Park 5 Received Additional $3.9 Million Settlement From New York in 2016 (Report)". The Wrap. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
  4. ^ Sullivan, Ronald (December 12, 1990). "2 Teen-Agers Are Convicted in Park Jogger Trial". The New York Times. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
  5. ^ Petski, Denise (July 6, 2017). "Ava DuVernay Teaming With Netflix On Central Park Five Limited Drama Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  6. ^ a b Patten, Dominic (July 9, 2018). "Ava DuVernay's 'Central Park Five' Casts Michael K. Williams, Vera Farmiga & John Leguizamo For Netflix Limited Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  7. ^ Patten, Dominic (March 1, 2019). "Ava DuVernay's 'Central Park Five' Gets Netflix Debut Date, New Name + Teaser". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
  8. ^ Petski, Denise (July 25, 2018). "'Central Park Five': Felicity Huffman, Jharrel Jerome & Jovan Adepo Join Ava DuVernay's Netflix Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  9. ^ Otterson, Joe (August 3, 2018). "'Wrinkle in Time' Star Storm Reid, Niecy Nash Among Five to Join Ava DuVernay's 'Central Park Five' Series". Variety. Retrieved August 3, 2018.
  10. ^ a b Petski, Denise (August 10, 2018). "'Central Park Five': Chris Chalk, Ethan Herisse Among 6 Male Leads Cast In Ava DuVernay's Netflix Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
  11. ^ Patten, Dominic (August 24, 2018). "Ava DuVernay's 'Central Park Five' Adds Joshua Jackson, 'Hamilton's Christopher Jackson, Adepero Oduye & More". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  12. ^ "Friday, Aug 10 Filming Locations for This Is Us, The Boys, SVU, & more! - On Location Vacations". On Location Vacations. August 10, 2018. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
  13. ^ "When They See Us: Season 1 (2019)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  14. ^ "When They See Us". Metacritic. CBS. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  15. ^ D'Addario, Daniel (May 21, 2019). "TV Review: Ava DuVernay's 'When They See Us'". Variety. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  16. ^ Henderson, Odie (May 30, 2019). "When They See Us Review". Roger Ebert. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  17. ^ Fienberg, Daniel (May 31, 2019). "'When They See Us': TV Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  18. ^ Goldberg, Matt (May 31, 2019). "'When They See Us' Review: Ava DuVernay's Magnum Opus of a Broken America". Collider. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  19. ^ Mangan, Lucy (May 31, 2019). "When They See Us review – Netflix's gut-wrenching tale of the Central Park Five". The Guardian. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  20. ^ Chaney, Jen (May 30, 2019). "When They See Us Is an Intimate, Sensitive Look at the Central Park Five Tragedy". Vulture. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  21. ^ Paskin, Willa (May 30, 2019). "When They See Us Is a New Kind of Must-See TV". Slate. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  22. ^ Lloyd, Robert (May 30, 2019). "Review: Ava DuVernay's 'When They See Us' gets to the human heart of the Central Park Five". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  23. ^ Fairstein, Linda (June 10, 2019). "Netflix's False Story of the Central Park Five". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
  24. ^ Eustachewich, Lia (June 11, 2019). "Linda Fairstein calls Netflix's 'When They See Us' an 'outright fabrication'". New York Post. Retrieved June 15, 2019.

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