American Tragedy (2019) User Reviews

Interesting but misleading...

[drkdglr13 · 6/10 · 20 November 2020]

If you're looking for a documentary about the Columbine Tragedy from Susan Klebold's perspective, this isn't it.

While she is open about certain aspects of her son's life, she is not an open book. I didnt expect anything new or enlightening, but I was interested in hearing her speak about their lives up until April 20. Unfortunately, it felt like the filmmakers used her name & the tragedy to market an 80 minute Public Service Announcement about their ideas on Mental Health.

Disappointed

[nancyhotz · 5/10 · 30 July 2020]

I was hoping for more insight into Dylan. Instead the second half was simply a commercial for the benefits of mental illness prevention. That's important, but not a documentary.

The elephant in the room....

[jonidawson77 · 5/10 · 7 October 2023]

While I appreciate the personal hell Sue Klebold had experienced, where was "Dad" in all this? Ignoring the role of the father, pretending that fathers have no bearing on the positive mental health of young men, will not get us to a place of enlightenment. Breathing exercises are not a substitute. If we're going to address this issue head on, then everything has to be included and this documentary is extremely insufficient in that regard. I believe Dylan's parents are divorced; what happened? Unfortunately, this documentary is painting an incomplete picture in that the male's influence is ignored.

@sleepyratingscale- sitting in bed

[thebimp · 7/10 · 1 June 2023]

Mother of Dylan Klebold, one of the Columbine school shooters, is who this documentary mainly circulates around. She tries to grapple with how her son became the monster that shot up a school. When Columbine happened in 1999, at the time such an incident was unheard of although now it has sadly become so common in occurrence. Sue Klebold attempts to look back at the moments she missed, what she didn't see in Dylan, how she didn't notice the arcinary he was building in their garage. This documentary brings up interesting points about how America should be concentrating on preventative care as a way to curb future mass shooter creations. With so many aspects of physical health, we promote healthy eating and exercise but with school shootings we teach people what to do in the moment when it's already occurring. The documentary pushes for mindfulness which is great and all but we all know that the real problem is how easily youth can gain access to assault type riffles is what is problematic.

Disappointing

[mannatude · 1/10 · 10 August 2020]

Very little covered in this film. It uses low-quality re-enactments. It is terribly slow. Worse, however, is that it doesn't reach for anything. It's Mrs. Klebold watching 1st graders learn to be mindful and smiling in the background. No grit, no depth, very little vulnerability. It's a plea for suicide awareness (that's how she frames her son's acts: suicide-with murder). It ends with a long, long monologue on the importance of mental health awareness. Very disappointing. Not worth watching or discussing. The trailer would suffice for the entire content of the film.

Eye-opener story

[lindaanddandavis · 9/10 · 22 July 2020]

A movie every parent should watch. Any parent could find themselves in the shoes of Sue Kiebold. The movie demonstrates the struggles kids go through and how parents don't always see the signs. A real life drama highlighting the need for more focus on mental health...particularly with our kids. An eye-opener that all parents should see.

She's in denial

[ssbounyavong · 3/10 · 19 July 2021]

I thought this was going to be an open account from the family of a mass murderer. Instead it was positioned as a mental health piece where she describes herself as a parent of a suicide child? Huh? Yes he committed suicide and he obviously had mental health issues but he intentionally and vindictively murdered and attempted to murder lots of people first. They have other parents discussing their kids actual suicides, again how is that relent to her? I do feel sorry for her to have had the loss of her son but she isn't looking at it rationally. I would have imagined she would have went on to help other parents of mass murders or spoke in schools about how school shootings are not the answer in addition to mental health awareness. Also low quality actors to show vignettes from the past just poorly done, actual images and videos would have sufficed. They kept showing Dylan in photos before he looked like the kid with long hair that shot up the school. Felt more they were trying to have you sympathize with Dylan rather than the actual victims.

The answers society needs to prevent another Columbine

[ZakCiotti · 10/10 · 29 July 2020]

***SPOILER ALERT*** Alright, if you haven't seen it, watch it right now and then let's return to this conversation, because this movie is unexpected and necessary.

I was into the dark and mysterious when I was a kid, and then in 1999 I got in trouble for wearing a trenchcoat at my Catholic gradeschool. We just happened to be 5 guys who wanted to look distinguished and then Columbine made us (literally) cut our coats short. School changed, our view on public places changed, and while everyone was saying "Never Again!" we ended up over the last couple years hearing about school or public shootings every other week it seemed. I always thought "There's got to be an answer to why this happens..." and MAYBE I wanted it to be more sinister or complicated, but I didn't expect the best answer to be "mental health."

The movie follows Sue, the only parent of a Columbine shooter to ever speak publicly, the tortured mother of mass murderer Dylan Klebold. Sue reminisces about happy times and reads through some of her journal entries pondering the question "How could this have happened without my knowing?" The film continues telling Sue's story as a part of our American story of shootings and successfully connects it with suicide. This is where the film has true strength and stands out from other documentaries and books about Columbine.

Admittedly, if you're looking for a salacious documentary that speculates what triggers and what events actually led to a boy becoming a killer, this is not for you. The film explains that all the answers you assumed were wrong. It shows how much the media and public just want to have an excuse to blame either parenting, video games, or any other outside influence other than the workings within the brain. The evidence just isn't in the favor of those assumptions. Perhaps that's because we're not doing anything about mental health as individuals and in society and there's some secret hidden guilt within. And truthfully, the vulnerable mother of a shooter, Sue Klebold wouldn't want to be in a film that just satisfies the curiosity of an audience looking for juicy details. The film covers the example of shooters that surprised their families by hiding their inner struggles and secret lives, and in the film New York Times writer Lisa Belkin says "We do not want to believe that could be true."

We get to hear from mass shooting experts, top psychologists around the country (included former Google psychology specialist Tom Insel, and psychologist/researcher Tony Biglan from the big tobacco court cases), and we explore the media's poor treatment of the coverage and the facts of this tragedy. Hearing key points pulled from Dylan's journal about his declining mental state solidifies the prevailing notion that the reason we keep hearing about shootings has to do with internal pain and an unhealthy brain. But it's not your typical "talking heads" documentary.

"American Tragedy" still has STUNNING reenactments just like Netflix's "Wormwood" directed by Errol Morris, minus the Hollywood actors (and thankfully, not nearly as lengthy as Wormwood). Although, somehow they found a woman who looks and acts JUST like Sue Klebold. I heard that the real Sue Klebold actually said 'Is that footage of me??' when she saw amateur actress Mary Dyer portray the mother of Columbine shooter Dylan Klebold.

The tone is dark and really takes you back to the feeling of watching the news coverage when it was happening live. It's upsetting and even makes you begin to question your own parenting - but then it takes a turn of hope, and explores what society and individuals could do to instill "emotional resilience" into your children. The mood of the music suddenly lifts your heart as you watch Sue join other suicide loss survivors and it dawns on you that tragedies like these turn the victims into forces for good who dedicate their lives to prevention and healing. That's the miracle that I noticed while watching this.

The music is as dramatic as the story, and my wife wants to buy the soundtrack. It's heartbreaking and delivers to you the emotions that Sue must feel when thinking back to seeing her sons play together and the memory of what was once a happy family. If the goal was for us to empathize with a parent that receives all the blame, consider this film a success.

The context of the making of this film a little bit amazes me, because this documentary was made by only a handful of people! What! They sort of blended talking heads with cinematic storytelling. It's also a relief to see that it was a project created by a non-profit, which is the first time I've ever heard of a documentary being produced by an organization whose sole purpose is to help parents. And a quality documentary, to boot.

IN SUMMARY: Sue Klebold is the premier example of overcoming and becoming an advocate for the cause of preventing violence through achieving mental health. This film clearly is geared toward parents who are concerned about their children's health and safety. It makes you feel like you're part of the #CommitToBrainFit cause and that there's something you can do within your homes to help. The best parts of the documentary are the sides of the story we never ever got to hear from the perspective of a beautifully strong mother. If you're wanting a make-you-feel-scared documentary that deters you from walking to your car at night or convinces you to shield and homeschool your kids, this isn't for you. This is for those who want to seriously know the answer to what causes and what society needs to prevent another Columbine.

Not enough information, biased, disappointing

[vgamerdc · 4/10 · 26 August 2020]

American Tragedy is a documentary covering the topics of mental health, and that in regards to the Columbine massacre. Unfortunately, the film is rather biased and doesn't cover much ground.

The first half of the film is nice in that was get to interview Sue Klebold, mother of Columbine shooter Dylan Klebold. It's heartbreaking to hear her story and how this whole thing affected her. However, it's rather biased and the documentary doesn't go much into Columbine itself. If viewers are not familiar with Columbine, all they might know is there was a school shooting. Much of what, unfortunately, wasn't discussed were the questions people had about the shooting and the misconception about it.

Was the shooting because of bullying; violent video game; mental health; or Nazism? The film doesn't cover any of these questions regarding the shooting, but inserts a single interview with one of Dylan's classmates referring to him as a shy, nice guy. That positive statement was taken out of a dozen negative ones in which students expressed they felt something was up/wrong with Dylan but didn't know what to do.

Throughout this first half, Sue tries to paint Dylan as a misunderstood Angel, rather than the Hitler worshipping psychopath he was. Dylan didn't shoot up the school because of bullying, or a poor upbringing, or because of video games. Heck, he didn't want to SHOOT up the school, he wanted to BOMB it! He boasted on video he wanted to inflict "the most deaths in U.S. history" in his Columbine massacre.

This brings us to our discussion on mental health, an area Dylan really struggled in. The film says that we have the resources and understanding of mental health, but just not the funding or widespread education. That's about it. It then show Sue Klebold watching a group of kindergartners learn about mental health-a kindergarten lesson they will surely have forgotten by middle school and high school when they'll need it most.

The film does not promote many solutions of widespread mental health, or share what could have been done differently regarding Columbine. Should the students have been more friendly to Dylan? What if everyone was more educated? What would that even look like? Was there also a correlation between Dylan and Incel culture (take a look at his Journal, it's online)? And again, were video games a part of it? What about people of other social upbringings?

Mental health is a major problem in America today. It is a topic which needs to be talked about. Although this film doesn't have the greatest execution, it hopefully will further open the door to discussion on this sensitive subject.

Opportunity lost

[kirstenjoywilkinson · 3/10 · 26 December 2020]

I am left feeling lost as to the point of the film. I kept thinking "ok, now they will tell me, as a parent, what to do to prevent it from happening." Realistically, I know they can't tell me what to do, but give me some tools to use to at least send me in the right direction. They did give me #committobrainfit. Unfortunately, the website is not made for cell phone browsers, so I can't even see what it's about.

SHARE THIS WITH THE WORLD!

[jbailey-46089 · 10/10 · 4 February 2021]

I have personal connection to this topic and cannot stress enough that society MUST start preventing these tragedies. People are dying both inside and out. Much love and respect to Ms. Klebold.

Too much filler

[lcapes-37089 · 3/10 · 3 June 2021]

It was significantly drawn out with a ton of unnecessary and super slow reenactments. While reenactments are fine and a typical part of stories like this, they are generally quick and to the point. That's not the case here and I lost interest less than halfway through. The story itself is interesting and deserves to be told but this missed the mark.

Mindfulness Works!

[trinam-60524 · 10/10 · 30 December 2020]

I am so emotional after watching. As someone who has spent 30 years working in Early Childhood, teaching mental wellness can and should be the norm. Mindfulness can be taught as young as toddlers. Thank you for sharing the work that is being done. I did not learn this as a kid but now have a daily mindfulness practice that has saved me. I now encourage this to home visitors who work with families in danger of abusing their kids. It is a remarkable tool for their own secondary trauma.

Misleading Documentary

[barnsleylad4949 · 3/10 · 20 August 2020]

This was a complete snoozefest. Very little information into what caused Klebold to do what he did. The mother deflects it all on Suicide. 80% of the show is about mental health. Important stuff but not what I was expecting. Sorry I wasted 5 bucks to watch this. Don't waste your money. I shut it off with 20 minutes left.

missed the point

[tamarapopovicbg · 3/10 · 14 April 2022]

Sooo much talk about mental health, preventing suicide with mindfulness (!?) But not a word about two major problems in the US - gun control and bullying in schools! Why do school shootings only happen in the US??? I live in Europe, we don't have "active shooter-drills" in schools here.

Important Topic. Well executed.

[sarahperkins-70260 · 10/10 · 6 October 2020]

This film has become increasingly applicable in the wake of COVID-19. Mental health skills are more important than ever. Parents need resources for themselves and their kids.

Aggressively Biased and Myopic

[sherissesteward · 3/10 · 5 December 2020]

This documentary is shockingly unrealistic and shallow. The U.S. school shooting murderers are overwhelmingly young, white males.

Mindfulness as a preventative resolution for the children but not the educators offered in small segments of the nation does not address one of the most glaring issues - gun control. I am sorry. I believe strongly in mental health care and awareness, however, this is not a comprehensive response to a complex issue that involves weapons brandished illegally by children as a the life divider. I wish others had been interviewed as well.

This is healing propaganda.

Must Watch

[tedjenkins-82886 · 10/10 · 5 March 2021]

Very well done! This film should be shown to all parents. This documentary should be used a tool when discussing mental health issues. Highly recommended for everyone

Missed the point

[Dobie02 · 4/10 · 13 September 2021]

Lots of teenagers are depressed but almost none murder their friends and classmates in a murderous rampage. Mother is in denial trying to ease her conscience. Her son was evil.

Boy, was i surprised!!!

[mgalligan-58074 · 4/10 · 12 December 2021]

I thought Mrs Klebold used this video to make it very clear she was a great mother who had absolutely no responsibility for the actions of her son. The responsibility lies work the schools and systems that didn't provide "mindfulness" training to her little boy.

I'm all for mindfulness training and helping kids cope with stress and eliminating bullying because it will probably result in happier kids. Dylan didn't kill his classmates because he was unhappy, he killed his peers because he was consumed with rage and everywhere he turned he was invisible.

The perspective on Columbine that everyone should gain

[ekoorb-lissybeth94 · 10/10 · 14 January 2021]

CW: mental health, suicide

Unfortunate to see several other reviewers who came into this documentary with their minds already made up with preconceived notions and 20+ years of misinformation about Columbine.

This documentary essentially covers the main takeaways from Sue Klebold's book A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy. I highly recommend watching this doc, but Sue's book should be essential reading for all parents, family members, educators and lawmakers. I listened to the audiobook (narrated by Sue herself) a few years ago, and in all my years of avid reading, I've never read another book that sits in the back of my mind every single day like hers.

I dealt with suicidal depression as a teenager and I'm now a 26-year-old who still lives with depression, anxiety and OCD. When I finished A Mother's Reckoning, I immediately recommended it to my mom. We've never had a great relationship, but I wanted to see if she could recognize any of myself as a teenager in Sue's descriptions of Dylan. She texted me after she'd read it and I asked, "Did it help you understand why I acted like I did as a teenager?" And she said, "Yes, definitely. I thought about that a lot." The "laziness," the oversleeping, the loss of interest, the irritability, the withdrawal...so many symptoms Sue described applied to my own experience with depression.

I find it so inspiring that Sue has dedicated her life to fighting brain disease in the hopes of preventing any more tragedies like Columbine and to help us all improve our mental well-being and our relationships with each other. I recommend her book every chance I get, and those who do read it have reached out to me afterward to express what a profound impact it had on them.

I met Sue in the spring of 2019 after attending a symposium where she and survivors of other mass shootings spoke on "survival and moving forward." I expressed my thanks to her for writing her book and said I wished it had been around when I was in high school for my parents to read. But then she looked at the friend who was with me, who happens to bear a striking resemblance to Dylan, and said, "You remind me of my son Dylan, which of course just breaks my heart." And I wished I could have given her a hug.

Despite the (quite irresponsible) media frenzy, all the police reports and countless other Columbine documentaries, Dylan is still Sue's son, and she's clearly still grappling with the circumstances of his death. However, she's also using her experience to help inspire change in how we view and treat mental health, and I find her strength to do that incredibly admirable.

I know this may come off as mostly a review of Sue's book, but this documentary is very closely tied to the book. Ideally, I think everyone should watch and read (or listen to) both, but if you're not a reader, you'll still get the main gist of the book from this film.

(Oh, and I couldn't believe how much the actress who portrayed Sue actually looked like her!)

More research

[foxtwc · 5/10 · 9 September 2022]

Anyone who reaches a point in life where they decide to kill, we need to figure out how they got there. Not many monsters are born, many are created. If we refuse to figure out how society creates monsters we will never be able to stop the cycle.

So many bad things happen to kids in schools. Too many are bullied and ignored. There needs to be a time when we are able to have adults interject to deescalate the situation. People who bully others need to be held accountable for their actions and punished. If an adult wouldn't accept that treatment from another ... our kids need to be given that same protection. Time to stop acting like it's just kids being kids.

Teachers are not capable in this area for stopping bullying. The last decade has proven that. They are either too out of touch with the kids or they are ignoring the bad behavior because they are uncomfortable with the conflict.

It's too easy to call a person who kills a monster, but many are pushed to that mental state when they feel like no one is listening or doing anything. These are people who feel powerless and like no one cares and that this is the only way they can make a statement. And it isn't only kids who do this ... it's repeated with many mass killers who decide to do violence.

Will gun control stop it from happening? Probably not as that is only the removal of a tool. People would resort to poison or other devices to kill at the level they want like using a building boiler or natural gas supply to detonate the entire building.

The key thing is to let those who are this troubled know that they matter and provide a method for them to get action for where injustice is being imposed on them.

Schools need an HR system for bullies. It's not funny anymore the way some kids are tormented beyond their capacity to cope as a child. Adults need to impose rules of behaviour that are expected from society, so let's make sure these juveniles know what society will and will not accept. Maybe then many adult sociopaths will be prevented who are created by the trauma caused during childhood.

Powerful story

[roblair-13476 · 10/10 · 8 October 2020]

Powerful story that addressed suicide and other mental health issues in our country.

Missed the Target

[davedunn-85721 · 1/10 · 17 November 2023]

Was this film sponsored by the NRA? How can you have a documentary that analyses the cause of school shootings as a uniquely American issue and not mention guns. In Canada we have terrible mental health services, and yet we have only had like 2 school shootings. This documentary is dangerously misleading and a distraction from the real issue. Guns are now the leading cause of adolescent death in the US. Look at the stats.. It's so obviously guns. While they put the blame on mental health they didn't even do a good job analysing that. Instead they focused on teaching mindfulness. What specific connection is there with mindfulness rather than other mental health exercises like learning to manage emotions? It was not a deep dive.

Teaching children mindfulness accomplishes nothing

[jeannette_gosnell · 1/10 · 6 March 2024]

I am a Christian who is very suspicous about teaching our children a practice that has emerged out of Zen Buddhist medtation practices. The young children in this documentary were saying exactly what their teachers wanted them to say. "I feel calm". "I feel happy". It was a lot of brain washing, but it has not stood the test of time and it never will. Since this documentary was produced, the suicide rate amoung children has risen by by over 27%.

These children are not being taught where true peace and joy comes from. The largest growing religious group in the US is NONE. Could there be a connection here?