Critic Reviews

• Maureen M. Hart, Chicago Tribune

  Shadow Company provides a pretty thorough examination of the unknown soldiers doing a lot of the heavy lifting there, outside the conventional rules of warfare.

• Bill Stamets, Chicago Sun-Times

  Drawing a line between official and unofficial forces is irrelevant since both are paid with our taxes, Shadow Company throws light on that bottom line in the war on terror.

• Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

  Though it offers interesting stories, Shadow Company does feel a little scattered.

• Peter Debruge, Variety

  Shadow Company is a lesson in how to get audiences who know little and care even less about the Iraq War to sit up and pay attention.

• Neil Genzlinger, New York Times

  There isn't as much exposé as you might expect in Shadow Company, but there's considerably more thoughtfulness.

• Ed Halter, Village Voice

  Shadow Company attempts to provide a balanced view of a potentially polarizing issue, interviewing historians, security firm heads, war journalists, and former contractors themselves (the Army declined).

• Prairie Miller, WBAI Web Radio

  This documentary touching on both the historical evolution and contemporary phenomenon of mercenaries feels uncomfortably like a promotional campaign for private security firms, as they're more euphemistically termed.

• Eric Monder, Film Journal International

  Should be seen by anyone who still romanticizes war, the troops, or the stated motives behind any sort of military conflict.

• Paul Malcolm, L.A. Weekly

  [A] fascinating, evenhanded documentary.

• Cynthia Fuchs, PopMatters

  Contrary to the popular image of the gung-ho cowboy contractors, they can and do take into account ethical frameworks.

• Prairie Miller, WBAI Web Radio

  If the film is engaged in some sort of screen spin regarding the dubious history of mercenaries, or a whitewashing of their activity in Iraq, the ongoing deplorable destruction and death visited upon that nation, on the contrary, speaks for itself.

• Pablo Villaca, Cinema em Cena

  Beneficiado por entrevistados com vasta experiência em uma indústria pouco conhecida do público em geral, o documentário traça um retrato alarmante e informativo sobre a atividade de mercenários no Iraque e em outras regiões do planeta.

• Pete Vonder Haar, Film Threat

  A fascinating documentary, shining some needed light on the individuals who are called upon more and more to take fill in the gaps left by a diminished standing military.

Read all 13 critic reviews