Terror at the Mall

After watching this I feel like it took 3 hours. It is so intense that the body feels like it's been through a marathon. One of the most horrific things I have ever seen...

This was a really good HBO documentary about a single terrorist attack in Kenya. I'd followed the story at the time but this captured the suspense and the horror of the unfolding situation in a truly remarkable way. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.

An entire documentary of footage from the event is hard to come by. I have a hard time watching anything without doing something while I watch and I watched this in its entirety without taking my eyes off the screen. It was in part morbid fascination but mainly I was just enthralled and caught up in what was happening. There were a lot of very brave people in that mall and I hope all of them have recovered from whatever wounds, physical or mental, they received.

And the Kenyan army in 2014? Absolutely useless.

Chilling HBO documentary covering the upmarket Westgate shopping mall shooting in Nairobi, Kenya. Mostly pieced together by surveillance footage (and even some cellphone video), leaving the viewer to get as up close and personal as a retelling account can get. The film lets the horror unfold without pulling any punches, an approach that makes this documentary recommended only for the strong stomached viewer. TERROR AT THE MALL is an overall commendable piece for highlighting the bravery of the civilians, and also making its focus on the victims as opposed to the shooters.

***½ (out of four)

This is a detailed a very graphic account of a terrible tragedy. Very well documented which sparks so many questions about not only the worst side of Islam but the inept, incapable and corrupt side of Kenya. It also shows the very best in Humanity when it comes to helping one another, some true heroes and heroines who need to be congratulated on their bravery.