# When They See Us (2019)

> Five Harlem teens are falsely accused of a brutal Central Park attack and forced into a years-long nightmare of injustice.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/69635

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 4
- Episode runtime: 74 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, crime
- Created by: Ava DuVernay
- Network: Netflix
- Cast: Asante Blackk, Jharrel Jerome, Ethan Herisse, Marquis Rodriguez, Caleel Harris, Marsha Stephanie Blake, Michael Kenneth Williams, John Leguizamo
- TMDB rating: 8.8/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7137906/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: extreme
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: graphic
- Tone: harrowing, sober, grief-stricken, angry, humane

## What critics say

Viewers broadly acclaim the miniseries for its powerful, accurate retelling of the wrongful conviction of the Central Park Five and for its strong ensemble performances.

## Synopsis

When They See Us (2019) is a American limited series created by Ava DuVernay for Netflix. Set in 1989 Harlem and New York City, it follows five Black and Latino teenagers, with Korey Wise (Jharrel Jerome) at the center, as they are falsely accused of a brutal assault in Central Park. Young Kevin Richardson (Asante Blackk), Young Yusef Salaam (Ethan Herisse), Young Raymond Santana Jr. (Marquis Rodriguez) and Young Antron McCray (Caleel Harris) are pulled into a police interrogation that coerces confessions, while their parents, including Sharonne Salaam (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) and Linda McCray (Marsha Stephanie Blake), fight a system that refuses to listen. The engine of the series is a family's struggle against a rigged process, told through interrogation rooms, courtroom battles, and the grinding years inside prisons. Its four episodes move with a heavy, deliberate weight, and the tone is sober, angry and mournful. Its approach is grounded and docu-real, closer to a true events dramatization in the tradition of prestige limited drama than to network procedural. Fans of The Wire, The Thin Blue Line and Making a Murderer will find resonance in its portrait of institutional failure and racial injustice.

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