''Philly D.A.'' is a 2021 American

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

series revolving around progressive

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Pennsylvania, district attorney

Larry Krasner Lawrence Samuel Krasner (born March 30, 1961) is an American lawyer who is the 26th District Attorney of Philadelphia. Elected to the position in 2017, Krasner was one of the first U.S. district attorney candidates to run as a self-described " ...

. It consists of 8-episodes and premiered on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

through ''

Independent Lens ''Independent Lens'' is a weekly television series airing on PBS featuring documentary films made by independent filmmakers. Past seasons of ''Independent Lens'' were hosted by Angela Bassett, Don Cheadle, Susan Sarandon, Edie Falco, Terrenc ...

'' on April 20, 2021.

Synopsis

The eight episode docuseries series follows Larry Krasner, a progressive district attorney in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, through his election and first term.

Episodes

Release

The series had its world premiere at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

on February 2, 2021, with the first two episodes of the series. It also screened at the

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

on March 2, 2021.

began airing the series on April 20, 2021, on

. Topic released the series on July 1, 2021.

Reception

Critical reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the series holds an approval rating of 92% based on 21 reviews Kathryn VanArendok of ''

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to Nort ...

'' said that "Philly D.A. is the second coming of The Wire, in docuseries form… It’s compelling… it’s gripping… engrossing, and heartbreaking… The show should be viewed as a model for an entire genre of documentary storytelling. I’m totally mesmerized by this series, I could not stop watching it." Matt Brennan of the ''Los Angeles Times'' said ''Philly D.A.'' is "the best TV show I've seen all year" while Ben Travers of Indiewire said "I’m relatively sure it’s the best documentary series of 2021. It’s certainly the most illuminating, enthralling, and impressive..."

Andy Dehnart Andy Dehnart (born August 26, 1977) is an American journalist and television critic. He may be best known as reality television's "longest-standing critic" for his online journalism, as he is the creator of the genre's first tracking website, reali ...

of ''Reality Blurred'' called it "easily the best docuseries of 2021… cameras are present for some riveting moments, as if this were a masterfully scripted HBO drama… a rare and exceptional documentary reality series." Fionnuala Halligan of ''

Screen Daily ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company which also owned '' Broadcast''. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involv ...

'' wrote, "Riveting...a must see." ''Time'' magazine, ''Los Angeles Times'', and ''Vulture'' included ''Philly D.A.'' on their lists of the "Best TV Shows of 2021".

Accolades

References

External links

* * * * {{Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Nonfiction Series 2021 American television series debuts 2021 American television series endings 2020s American documentary television series 2020s American television miniseries American English-language television shows Documentary television series about crime in the United States Documentary television series about policing Documentary television series about politics PBS original programming Television series about prosecutors