Parents' Guide to

American Trial: The Eric Garner Story

By Joyce Slaton, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

Devastating look at a Black Lives Matter flash point.

Movie NR 2020 100 minutes
American Trial: The Eric Garner Story Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

  • American Trial: The Eric Garner Story Television: Scene #1
  • American Trial: The Eric Garner Story Television: Scene #2

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What's the Story?

In real life, Eric Garner died in 2014 after being arrested by Officer Daniel Pantaleo for selling loose cigarettes, though a Staten Island grand jury refused to indict Pantaleo for Garner's death. AMERICAN TRIAL: THE ERIC GARNER STORY imagines the trial that many wanted to see. Only one actor appears in American Trial: Anthony Altieri as Pantaleo. Otherwise, the defense team, prosecution, and judge are played by real-life attorneys. Real experts who might have testified at a Pantaleo trial appear to give evidence. And, most movingly, Garner's real-life widow, Esaw Snipes-Garner, appears to tell her side of the story in this painful, moving look at a criminal case that continues to reverberate.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

As a slice of wish fulfillment, this reimagining of the way the tragedy of Eric Garner's death could have proceeded is an absolute punch to the gut. By combining non-actors with real people from Garner's life and real news footage with fictional-yet-realistic scenes set in a courtroom, filmmaker Roee Messinger's take on this flash point in the police brutality protest movement becomes something compelling, awful, and impossible to look away from. It's a turn of events that never happened but so many wish had.

Viewers who've never seen the video of Garner's violent arrest will likely find it difficult to watch, but there are other moments of American Trial that are much, much worse. There's a brief video clip of officers and EMT workers trying to resuscitate a downed Garner as he lies unmoving, his eyes shut. And, worst of all, there's the devastating coda that ends American Trial, when Snipes-Garner breaks down in agonized tears after her filmed testimony, having been forced to listen to the details of her husband's death that she'd been able to avoid before. In between, viewers (and the jury) are taken through the basics of the use of force in arrests, the "seatbelt" hold vs. a chokehold, Garner's health problems, and Pantaleo's intent (as channeled by Altieri). This faux trial answers questions that you may not have even known you had. Lest you worry that watching a trial drama will be dry, know that American Trial is anythiung but: It's a painful, powerful, and emotionally resonant documentation of a uniquely American tragedy.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about American Trial's violence. How does it compare to violence in other movies? Does the fact that the movie is based on a true story affect the impact of the violence?

  • How do you feel about the inclusion of the footage of the real incident that inspired this movie? How did you react to it? What elements of American Trial's realism reached you emotionally?

  • What's the difference between "based on a true story" and an actual true story? Does it matter whether everything in this movie actually happened? How could you find out which parts are fictionalized and which are real?

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