Synopsis
In 1989, five black and Latino teenagers from Harlem were arrested and later convicted of raping a white woman in New York City's Central Park. They spent between 6 and 13 years in prison before a serial rapist confessed that he alone had committed the crime, leading to their convictions being overturned. Set against a backdrop of a decaying city beset by violence and racial tension, this is the story of that horrific crime, the rush to judgment by the police, a media clamoring for sensational stories and an outraged public, and the five lives upended by this miscarriage of justice.
Ratings
IMDb7.7/10
Rotten Tomatoes92%
Metacritic79/100
125 audience votes
Key crew
- Sarah BurnsDirector
- Ken BurnsDirector
- David McMahonDirector
- David McMahonWriter
- Doug WambleOriginal Music Composer
- Sarah BurnsWriter
- Ken BurnsWriter
Cast
- Antron McCraySelf (voice)
- Kevin RichardsonSelf
- Yusef SalaamSelf
- Raymond SantanaSelf
- Kharey WiseSelf
- Matias ReyesSelf (archive footage)
- Jim DwyerSelf - New York Times
- Angela BlackSelf - Kevin's Sister
- Ed KochSelf
- Craig Steven WilderSelf - Historian
- LynNell HancockSelf - Journalist
- Calvin O. Butts IIISelf - Reverend