First They Killed My Father (2017)
Movie · 2017 · War, Drama, History · 2h 16m · R · English
Curator score: 6.8/10 (22.7K ratings)
Overview
A 5-year-old girl embarks on a harrowing quest for survival amid the sudden rise and terrifying reign of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.
Ratings
- Curator score: 6.8/10
- IMDb: 7.2/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 88%
- Metacritic: 72
- TMDB: 7.4/10
Director
Angelina Jolie
Production
Bophana Production
Cast
Sareum Srey Moch, Phoeung Kompheak, Sveng Socheata, Mun Kimhak, Heng Dara, Khoun Sothea, Sarun Nika, Run Malyna, Oun Srey Neang, Horm Chhora, Nout Sophal, Tharoth Sam, Rous Mony
Where to watch
Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads
Curator Review
Verdict
A harrowing, child-centered account of the Khmer Rouge years that is often more sincere than seamless, but still powerful, visually assured, and emotionally devastating. Its perspective and historical urgency make it worth seeing, especially if you can accept some unevenness in the filmmaking.
Best for
- viewers interested in Cambodian history and genocide-era survival stories
- fans of intimate war dramas told through a child’s perspective
- audiences who value emotional impact and authenticity over polish
- people looking for a serious, prestige-minded historical drama
Skip if
- you want a tightly controlled, formally elegant war film
- you are sensitive to depictions of child trauma and mass suffering
- you prefer fast-moving plots with clear heroic arcs
- you’re looking for a film with a consistently subtle or restrained directorial style
Overview
First They Killed My Father is a grim survival story that places the Khmer Rouge era at the center of a child’s experience, which gives the film its strongest and most affecting quality. The young lead performance is the anchor: she carries fear, confusion, and resilience with remarkable clarity, and the film’s point of view keeps the horror personal rather than abstract.
Worth noting
Angelina Jolie’s direction is uneven, but not indifferent. At its best, the film has a haunting, lived-in quality and a strong sense of place, with cinematography that gives the devastation an eerie beauty without fully softening it. At its weakest, the film can feel over-shaped or emotionally blunt, as if it is reaching for solemnity a little too hard.
Bottom line
Even with those missteps, the movie has real force. It is not the definitive film on this subject, but it is a sincere and often devastating one, and its commitment to telling a Cambodian story with seriousness and scale makes it stand out.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Shaun M (3.5★) · 193 likes
An impressive step up for Angelina Jolie as a director, this is a harrowing and affecting film, propelled by an INCREDIBLE performance from young actress Sareum Srey Moch and Anthony Dod Mantle's excellent cinematography. Unlike a lot of Netflix Originals, this actually looks like a proper FILM. It's held back from being great by a few directorial missteps which perhaps show Jolie's inexperience, using cheesy lightbulb effects during flashbacks/memories which would look more comfortable in a Saw film, some digitally-treated slow-motion and some choppy editing. Still, a very respectable effort and a fine prestige addition to Netflix's lineup.
Dawson Joyce (4.5★) · 120 likes
Angelina Jolie’s finest, most passionate, and most accomplished work as a writer and director yet, Netflix’s First They Killed My Father is a brutal, powerful, and absolutely devastating historical thriller with terrific performances, a haunting story, and a great deal of refreshing and completely genuine authenticity that’s immediately present from the very first detail to the last.
Rafael "Mister Movie" Jovine (3★) · 94 likes
So this is another movie that has been on my Netflix queue since forever. It's unfortunate in many ways that this happened, as while Angelina Jolie's film isn't the best representation of a similar topic (Beast With No Nation is far better), it still has an identity and does the work it set out to do. In a way, the dreamy atmosphere Jolie goes for was reminiscent of Malick's, but she also do a great job setting up scenes where… more So this is another movie that has been on my Netflix queue since forever. It's unfortunate in many ways that this happened, as while Angelina Jolie's film isn't the best representation of a similar topic (Beast With No Nation is far better), it still has an identity and does the work it set out to do. In a way, the dreamy atmosphere Jolie goes for was reminiscent of Malick's, but she also do a great job setting up scenes where… more
Jacob (2★) · 88 likes
I can't even say that this wasn't made well, it just wasn't made... right? There was such an intense disconnect between the direction and the content of the narrative that it made the whole thing feel lifeless despite the inherent vitality and intensity of the subject matter. The only justification I can think of is that Jolie was trying to keep us in the point of view of the young protagonist (whose actress carries the movie). There's something interesting about… more I can't even say that this wasn't made well, it just wasn't made... right? There was such an intense disconnect between the direction and the content of the narrative that it made the whole thing feel lifeless despite the inherent vitality and intensity of the subject matter. The only justification I can think of is that Jolie was trying to keep us in the point of view of the young protagonist (whose actress carries the movie). There's something interesting about… more
Darren Carver-Balsiger (2.5★) · 71 likes
Let's start off with the good stuff about First They Killed My Father. First of all, the production is generally well put together. It's also not uninteresting and tells a story that needs to be told. There's also some brutality which is unflinchingly and effectively shot. It's also a movie which looks beautiful, although whether this is the right movie for such beauty is questionable. Now onto the negatives, which are quite extensive. The biggest problem with First They Killed… more
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Topics
historical drama, war, genocide, survival, child perspective, trauma, political violence, Cambodia, period piece, prestige drama