Standard Operating Procedure

Standard Operating Procedure (2008)

  • 80% of critics liked it
    (98 reviews)

  • 78% of users liked it
    (2,594 ratings)

Filmmaker Errol Morris (Gates of Heaven, The Thin Blue Line) takes an unflinching look at the Abu Ghraib prison scandal while meditating on the frightening side effects of the War on Terror in a thought-provoking documentary from Participant Productions (An Inconvenient Truth). ~ Jason Buchanan,… More

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R,
Directed By
Genres
Documentary, Special Interest
In Theaters
Apr 25, 2008 Limited
Sony Pictures Classics

Critic Reviews

  • Jonathan F. Richards, Film.com

    Morris offers valuable new perspectives on Abu Ghraib, but the paying customers may not care to go there again.

  • Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel

    Standard Operating Procedure feels like a historical work in progress, brilliant, thought-provoking but incomplete.

  • Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald

    As unappetizing as the subject may seem, Errol Morris' Standard Operating Procedure exerts a hypnotic pull anyway.

  • Tom Long, Detroit News

    Truth is a matter of perspective in director Errol Morris' Standard Operating Procedure, a piercing look at the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison and the aftermath of their discovery.

  • Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle

    The result is a devastating film, and an important one.

Read all 19 critic reviews

See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Curtis L


    Errol Morris tries a different style in this one. The interviewees don't look straight into the camera (his signature shot), but it's also not a film about backwoods hillbillies or pet cemeteries. The subject matter is intriguing, and it's cool to get testimonies of… More

  • Walter M


    "The fact that a person acted to pursuant to order of his government or of a superior does not relieve him from responsibility under international law, provided a moral choice was in fact possible to him." - Nuremburg Principle IV "Military intelligence is a… More

  • John B


    Oh boy. I saw this one at the same time as Taxi to the Dark Side and they kind of morph into each other. Errol Morris as usual gives us some interesting visuals...but imagine if the two documentarians had collaborated on a much better join project?

  • Alec B


    Not easy to watch, but it is still one of the most important films of 2008. The film is tremendously engaging and educational. We only got a fraction of the story in the media, and Errol Morris' choice of just letting the soldiers that he could get to interview simply speak about… More

  • William G


    Morris uses surprisingly candid interviews to construct an essay on the painfully abstract nature of truth and intentions, the best and worst of which came to light in Abu Ghraib.

Read all 8 featured audience ratings

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