American Tragedy

2019
13+
1h 20m

IMDb RATING

6.2/10

749

YOUR RATING

AMERICAN TRAGEDY is the feature length documentary film about our country's crisis in mental health, mental illness, suicide, violence, and the scientific studies that may help society's foundation: the family.

From the producers of Going Sane, this film uniquely follows the story of various survivors of unthinkable tragedies, researchers, journalists, parents, advocates, and focuses on our nation's efforts to solve the issues of mental health.

Play trailer3:03

1 Video

6 Photos

Documentary

Sue Klebold attempts to reconcile how the son she affectionately referred to as "Sunshine Boy" became a school shooter. "If love could have stopped Columbine," she says, "Columbine would nev... Read allSue Klebold attempts to reconcile how the son she affectionately referred to as "Sunshine Boy" became a school shooter. "If love could have stopped Columbine," she says, "Columbine would never have happened.Sue Klebold attempts to reconcile how the son she affectionately referred to as "Sunshine Boy" became a school shooter. "If love could have stopped Columbine," she says, "Columbine would never have happened.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.2/10

749

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Videos1

Trailer 3:03

Official Trailer

Photos5

+ 2

User reviews32

6.2749

Featured reviews

5jonidawson77

The elephant in the room....

While I appreciate the personal hell Sue Klebold had experienced, where was "Dad" in all this? Ignoring the role of the father, pretending that fathers have no bearing on the positive mental health of young men, will not get us to a place of enlightenment. Breathing exercises are not a substitute. If we're going to address this issue head on, then everything has to be included and this documentary is extremely insufficient in that regard. I believe Dylan's parents are divorced; what happened? Unfortunately, this documentary is painting an incomplete picture in that the male's influence is ignored.

3tamarapopovicbg

missed the point

Sooo much talk about mental health, preventing suicide with mindfulness (!?) But not a word about two major problems in the US - gun control and bullying in schools! Why do school shootings only happen in the US??? I live in Europe, we don't have "active shooter-drills" in schools here.

4Dobie02

Missed the point

Lots of teenagers are depressed but almost none murder their friends and classmates in a murderous rampage. Mother is in denial trying to ease her conscience. Her son was evil.

3lcapes-37089

Too much filler

It was significantly drawn out with a ton of unnecessary and super slow reenactments. While reenactments are fine and a typical part of stories like this, they are generally quick and to the point. That's not the case here and I lost interest less than halfway through. The story itself is interesting and deserves to be told but this missed the mark.

6drkdglr13

Interesting but misleading...

If you're looking for a documentary about the Columbine Tragedy from Susan Klebold's perspective, this isn't it.

While she is open about certain aspects of her son's life, she is not an open book. I didnt expect anything new or enlightening, but I was interested in hearing her speak about their lives up until April 20. Unfortunately, it felt like the filmmakers used her name & the tragedy to market an 80 minute Public Service Announcement about their ideas on Mental Health.

Storyline

Edit

Did you know

Edit

Trivia
During the scene where Sue describes the struggle of putting her socks on in the morning, there is a montage of flashbacks with her son Dylan; one of which shows her pushing him against the refrigerator. This occurred in a story that Sue shared in an interview with Dianne Sawyer. Sue spoke of Mother's Day in 1997 and Dylan had been quiet and stand-off-ish in the days leading up; so much so that he didn't get her anything for Mother's Day. In her frustration, Sue grabbed her son and pushed him against the fridge and yelled that he has to stop being so shut down and selfish."