IX XI

Magnificent documentary...a compelling, funny, and riveting debut film.

Rather than presenting a unified account, IX XI reveals the diversity of emotional responses: from fear and confusion to resilience, grief, humor, and unexpected moments of connection. As the stories unfold, the film becomes less about the attacks themselves and more about what remained afterward: the vulnerability of a city, the fragility of everyday life, and the unexpected ways trauma can connect strangers.

Boldly eschews a conventionally staid re-telling of that day's sequence of events in favor of an intermingled aggregation of personal accounts from a wide array of social tiers. From a UPS guy to a plucky journalist to a skateboarder to a real estate agent to a chef to a celebrated actor to a cartoonist and all stripes in between, this cast conveys their respective experiences with warmth, pathos, introspection, poignancy, humility and humor.

This September will be the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, and for those curious for a different perspective, IX XI is something to look at.

You can't say that IX XI is the best documentary about 9/11, but it does attempt to capture that day differently, without uncovering anything revelatory about the event. But it doesn't really need to – it's about the human experience of it all.