Island of the Hungry Ghosts

"The opening of Australian documentary Island of the Hungry Ghosts is shrouded in the darkness of wilderness, a squall of the simmering sounds of thick foliage and fauna bubble before a commotion. A person emerges scaling the wire walls surrounding the halogen-lit facility before screaming into the brush. The beastly snarls of freedom, the camera shaking in desperate pursuit. An animal is free. In this case, a human ground into something primal."

"The result is at once acutely distressing and quite lovely, transforming the island into something primitive and inscrutable."

"A fierce, valuable, compassionate film."

"Poetic and impressionistic, this is urgent, angry filmmaking that reaches for something transcendent in its exploration of the conflict between precarious, precious nature and deeply human evil."

"Aesthetically speaking, all the footage here is worthwhile, it's just the film makes its point a little too swiftly and obviously."

"Island of the Hungry Ghosts casts an undeniably hypnotic spell. The documentary also serves as an important reminder that the United States is far from alone in mistreating its would-be immigrants."