User reviews

Love Errol Morris, but far too much time spent on dramatic non-enactments of men pensively staring at each other. An important story that needs to be told, and could have been told more effectively with half the screen time.

This needed to be edited down. I value the gradual unveiling of information in the order it was revealed historically. That is how it unfolded for one affected family.

There are way too many minutes of re-enactment, especially the rendering of details that the storytellers say are missing. At times, the re-enactment footage is re-used! Additional footage comes from productions of a Shakespeare tragedy. So it feels as if the Shakespeare OR the re-enactments would have been indulgence enough. Why feature both?

I was curious. This answered some questions. Wish it had done so more quickly.

First the director, of whom I am a fan, is to be congratulated for bringing this important story to the screen, a sad and terrifying chapter in our history that is larger than the Frank Olson story itself and even the MK Ultra program. That said, he seems to have been constrained by production values demanded by post-Breaking Bad audiences: technical and artistic overkill, relentless musical tension, and genre-bending, when the story itself is not only mind-boggling but well-documented and essential history that is little known or understood. The length (as has been noted) is far more than necessary to tell this story. A two hour movie or a two part series would have been a more effective use of the raw material. I am however pleased to see the Frank Olson story presented with great respect, although the documentary parts were, to me, far the most compelling than the drawn out contemplative sequences. (I loved seeing footage of the confessions of US military personnel, captured in Korea during the war, to having dropped bio-warfare bombs on North Korea counterposed to their recanting the same confessions when back in the US, suggesting that the brainwashing may not explain these confessions.) I do wonder if Netflix pressured the producers to come up with a six part series for their own reasons. The full history of US intelligence black operations since World War 2 could probably fill many decades of screen time, should our media choose to bring such history to the light of day. I would love to think that this is only the beginning of such an essential exploration.

...with all these negative reviews.

Wormwood is a fresh take on the 'documentary with dramatic acting' genre. Using established actors to capture the dramatic reenactments, juxtaposed with Morris' real-life interviews and media clips from that time-period, brings a different level of legitimacy, to an incredibly fascinating story.

Worth the watch

Thank goodness for streaming - now you can also speed through hours of nonsense without missing anything. Very handy for a snail-paced maze of unnecessary "dramatisation". The story stands on its own; either make a 2 hr Hollywood special or don't, but don't degrade a powerful and valuable moment in history with mindless editing. Can't imagine why Netflix wants to throw away money - I'll take it?!

The Macro Story of the CIA's Covert, Illegal, and Unethical MK-Ultra Program Unveiled in the 1970's is now in the Public Domain and has been Fodder for Historians and Conspiracy Theorist since its Embarrassing Entry in the Conscience of the American Psyche.

The Micro Story is of Eric Olsen's Quest to find out what Happened to His Father, Frank Olsen, a Government Scientist who was Found Dead on the Sidewalks of New York after Plunging 13 Stories from His Hotel Window is Meticulously Metered Out in this Errol Morris Documentary/Drama.

The Macro and the Micro are Combined for this Netflix Mini-Series that runs 4 hours from 6 Episodes. Those Searching for the Modernist Instant Gratification Fix might find this Format a bit Too Much.

But the Dazzled Presentation of Cut and Paste Collage cannot be Denied its Power and Entertainment Gravitas. The Real Footage of Politicians and Journalists puts the Viewer in the Time and Place, and the Dramatic Recreations of the Unknown "Real Happenings" of the Story are Compelling.

This "Collage" Creation of the Visuals, using Actual Print and Video is Mesmerizing and Informative. Overwhelming, but Magnetic it is a Ride of Historical Musings on a Headline Grabbing Uncovering of Government Hubris and a Personal Lifelong Lamenting from a Son's Dedication to the Truth Stemming from the Love of a Father who got Swallowed Up in the Paranoia of the Cold War.

This is a great true story, yet another one, of unethical actions taken by our government agencies that took someone's life - and of course nobody has been held to account. For me the docudrama thing just doesn't do it. On top of that that is some borderline amateurish editing. The entire thing should have been half the number of episodes but instead they drag it out to the point that I'm on episode five (of six) and, knowing what happens, to make it though the last two is a complete chore.

It is such a shame because the story is very interesting and an important one to tell. Especially today when people in general and the united press corps in particular are busy fawning over US intelligence services, heralding them as virtually immaculate purveyors of truth. It's as if their shady past, MKUltra in the case of this documentary or the Iraq war in more recent memory, has been thrown down the memory hole and we are now to trust their word implicitly.

There is an excellent 90 minute documentary hiding in this material. But Netflix (as usual) drags it out for far too long. Was there really a need for this documentary to be six episodes long?

It boggles the mind that this documentary was made by the fantastic documentary filmmaker who did Standard Operating Procedure, A Brief History of Time and The Thin Blue Line, not to mention my personal favorites Mr. Death and especially The Fog of War.

Loved this! Another classic Errol Morris but with a twist. Heartbreaking family tragedy set against the backdrop of shady CIA history. Suspenseful and thought-provoking.

I only started watching Wormwoood because NetflixLife posted a tweet asking if anyone was getting into it. No one responded which truly surprised me, so I advised Netflix I'd give it a try.

The story is definitely worth telling. It has all the elements to create a decent docudrama. I always enjoy Peter Skarsgård, but the poor guy was so limited by the material. I'll will admit though, that the first episode was interesting enough for me to keep going.

But sadly, as early as episode 2, I realized 6 episodes were unnecessary. It could have been condensed to 2-3 episodes at the most. The pace is stultifying slow. I think this show might have been markedly better and perhaps more cohesive if they simply used the recorded interviews with the key characters.

I thought I'd try one more episode, but early into episode 3, Id had enough. I wasn't going to watch 3 more hours for any momentum or improved pacing.

I rarely review a show where I feel compelled to write a review. Wormwood is the exception. I simply had to express my disappointment in what could have been, with a different director perhaps, a terrific exposé on devious real life doings of the CIA in the late 40's through the early 70's.

Would've been a much higher rating if it was a 2 hour special. In fact my only complaints are the length of time, and that you can receive a PhD from Harvard for making collages. The actors were great and so was the production. Just needed to be more concise.

Wormwood is one of those docu-films which could easily go by the boards and not get a lot of notice, and yet, it is highly relevant. Typically, for decades, Hollywood has depicted the CIA, the Central Intelligence Agency, as a dirty black-ops hand of the US government. The agency that lives by the mantra "anything goes" in the name of national security. Wormwood takes us back to 1953 when a scientist, Frank Olson, working on a top secret chemical warfare program, under the auspices of the CIA, suddenly dies and his death is tagged a suicide. His son, Eric, goes on to spend decades trying to force the truth into the open and asking for accountability from the government who is supposed to oversee this agency. This is a true story, the details and re-enactments are quite brilliantly done. The duplicity of the CIA is well-revealed. It's a compelling rendering about one man who goes up against the might of the US government in a relentless search for the truth, and of course, what he discovers in the end is sadly shocking. If you want a dose of reality, watch the film - it will make you question things.

This could easily have been 60 to 90 minutes long. The story, whilst interesting, didn't need to be dragged out over six episodes. Most of the theories and conclusions were played out in the first episode and repeated thereafter. The David Lynch production style didn't work for me either.

We knew there had been secret government LSD research, but I always assumed it got blown way out of proportion because it seemed so contrary to the War on Drugs. Kudos to Morris for unshrouding this dark secret so we can at least get closer to the truth.

From the point of view of a long-standing Errol Morris fan, I cannot for the life of me see what is so unique about this series. I only saw the first 2 hours, but those were 2 excruciating hours. After that, I couldn't take it anymore.

The entire time I waited for some kind of revelation to happen, or maybe a little of the magic of the first few Documentaries by Mr. Morris, but there seems to be hardly any left after all these years. My hero is now a one-trick pony, reiterating his greatest hits, using the techniques he used well over 3 decades ago, and repeating them again and again.

Don't get me wrong, I really wanted to like this series but I can only say that, if Errol was interested in making a project that would have some impact, he might have considered getting himself an Editor who would challenge his meandering, repetitive, tedious method of storytelling. Errol, my best suggestion is to find someone to cut your movies who is not a sycophant.

The basic storyline is drawn from the many many hours of interviews with a man who's father was a pawn of the CIA and who plunged to his death from what was considered a 'suicide' after taking LSD (against his will) as part of a super-secret experiment. Now, I like conspiracies much more than the average moviegoer, so ol'Errol is preaching to the choir when he gets his audience mired in one conspiracy after another.

But the drawback is that we have to watch every single solitary possibility acted out in long, drawn-out, talky sequences, all of which serve no other purpose than to justify the "series" part of the equation. (All I can surmise is that the Netflix execs must have wanted an exclusive series that they could promote the hell out of -- since the documentary does not justify any more than a 90 minute treatment.) Amid all of this is the myth that LSD supposedly would cause a normally stable man to commit suicide. Of course, that assumption is false, but for some ridiculous reason, the family believes it.

Had Errol done his usual routine, get the facts, get the talking heads, overlay the headlines, and tied it all up at the end of 90 minutes, this would have been a work of genius along with his many other achievements. However, someone let the kid into the candy store and allowed him to gorge himself on as much padded mishmosh of re-enactments as he could possibly stomach. The result is a very bloated, very over-acted, very slow, very verbose series.

I can't recommend this film highly enough. It fully engrossed me.

The hybrid of drama and documentary served the story in a organic and mind blowing way. The documentary story of a man digging for the truth about his father and the effect that that search for truth has had on his life while the dramatization of his fathers story unfolds was powerful and painfully thought provoking.

The cinematography and the production design were breath taking!

Peter Sarsgaard's performance was award worthy -- his performance broke my heart.

Man. Errol Morris has delivered a film like nothing I have seen before. And his unique way of telling this story does not serve him as a director but rather the story -- the complexity of shots and hybrid story telling is organic and sincere.

As a viewer, I love the interviews, the commentary, the truths. But the dramatizations are a bit extensive and make the story a bit more confusing than it really is. At times I want the re-enactments yo stop and get on with the facts

I won't waste your time like Netflix did mine. It's very repetitive and dragged out.

Could have been a good hour and a half documentary. Netflix drags it out to 6 episodes for god only knows why. They seem to be forcing every documentary into a series.

Just under 3 hours in before I gave up, after learning not much more than a paragraph long synopsis.