TIME: The Kalief Browder Story

Created by Julia Willoughby Nason, Jenner Furst, and Nick Sandow, directed by Furst, and with Jay-Z and Harvey Weinstein serving as executive producers, this six-part documentary tells the almost unbearably tragic story of Kalief Browder; a 16 year old who was arrested for allegedly stealing a backpack. With his family unable to afford the $900 bail, Browder spent 1,111 days in Rikers, despite never being convicted of a crime. Turning down nine plea deals, Browder refused to admit to something he didn't do just so he could go home. With his case brought to court and delayed multiple times, Browder spent over 800 days in solitary confinement, where his mental health rapidly deteriorated. Indeed, the episodes dealing with his time in Rikers, and the experience and effects of long-term solitary confinement, are almost too horrific to bear.

Were this fiction, the litany of abuses he suffers, and the details of how the system failed him, would be rejected as ridiculous, with his nightmare continuing even upon his release; in two separate incidents, he was shot and stabbed, and was later sectioned, as he became increasingly paranoid and unstable. Telling the parallel story of the anguish of his doting mother, if I had one criticism, it would be that the narrative is stretched too thin. Much like The Keepers (2017), there isn't enough material here to warrant this many episodes, and it does lapse into repetition at times. Nevertheless, this is harrowing stuff; highly recommended.

Let me preface this by saying I'm somewhat of a junkie for stories like this. I enjoy empathising with people who've suffered, and the reality check that it gives me that there's so much to be grateful for.

This was a terrible ordeal and another in a long line of quite astonishing relics of this kind during this racially divided era.

However, I score it a 5 because of the appalling decision to drag this out like they did. As others have posted, this could probably have been a 2-part series; 3 at the most (it's 6 episodes in reality). Very tedious.

This docuserie shows splendidly how flawed the juridicial system is in a city known for its financial institutions, its skyscrapers and the many tv series happening in NYC.

As a none US citizen, I was shocked after I saw this documentary as I had a totally different picture of NYC. How can New Yorkers accept this happening as basic human rights are being violated? It has more something from a 3rd world country than from a developed country. Just shocking.

Thank God there are still some good people in the world who fight for those unprivileged and the poor.

I just finished watching this documentary and I am in tears. This is a must see. It's heartbreaking to see how our justice system failed Kalief. This is still happening to thousands of black men but no one hears about it because most just plead guilty to crimes they did not commit. Kalief did not give up, he fought the justice system head on. I am heartbroken with how this documentary ends but I will not spoil it for you. Please watch this, hopefully it opens at least one person's eyes to the injustice of our system.

I don't know what I'm supposed to say, or possibly could say to encapsulate what I just watched. I have so many thoughts and feelings swirling within me right now that I could say a lot and also say nothing. Whatever I write about The Kalief Browder Story, words won't do it justice, just like the Bronx police, D.A., and judges, and Riker's Island C.O.'s didn't do Kalief Browder Justice. So, instead of me commenting upon this docuseries I encourage the conscious to watch yet another hard-hitting docuseries from Netflix.