The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz
A mournful documentary portrait of Aaron Swartz, tracing an internet prodigy's fight for open information into a devastating confrontation with the justice system.
Overview
A poignant exploration of a brilliant mind lost too soon, highlighting the battle for information freedom.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- serious
- mournful
- urgent
- political discussion
- technology documentary night
What critics said
Critics broadly found the film an accessible, compelling, and politically urgent portrait of Aaron Swartz that connects his life to internet freedom and civil liberties.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Aaron Swartz's story is reconstructed through footage, interviews, and reflections on the consequences of his prosecution and death.
Swartz's activism centers on open access, free software, and resistance to restrictions on publicly available knowledge.
The legal case is presented as a lens on government prosecution, internet regulation, and constitutional freedoms.
Swartz's programming achievements, online organizing, and political convictions are treated as parts of one public mission.
Films like The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz, and why
We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists
technology-centered documentary biography with a strong civil-liberties critique and activist focus
Terms and Conditions May Apply
documentary portrait of an influential internet figure combining personal history with questions about digital power and freedom
Citizenfour
urgent documentary examination of technology, political organizing, and the consequences of government surveillance
The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer
biographical documentary about a brilliant public-minded figure whose work exposes institutional and ethical conflicts
Movie Details
- Director
- Brian Knappenberger
- Release Date
- 2014-06-27
- Runtime
- 105 min
- Rating
- 7.9 / 10 (479)
Cast
- Aaron Swartz
- Tim Berners-Lee
- Cory Doctorow
- Peter Eckersley
- Lawrence Lessig
- Brewster Kahle
- Cindy Cohn
- Zoe Lofgren
- Gabriella Coleman
Common questions
- What is The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz about?
- A mournful documentary portrait of Aaron Swartz, tracing an internet prodigy's fight for open information into a devastating confrontation with the justice system.
- What is The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz as mild.
- What did critics think of The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz?
- Critics broadly found the film an accessible, compelling, and politically urgent portrait of Aaron Swartz that connects his life to internet freedom and civil liberties.
- Which films are like The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz?
- Films with a similar feel include We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists, Terms and Conditions May Apply, Citizenfour, and The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer.
- How long is The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz?
- The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz runs 105 minutes.
