User reviews

A well done documentary that unfortunately will taint my view of US Gymnastics forever. Such amazing courage was put on display against the back drop of sexual AND coaching abuse of gymnasts.

For a while now I never really heard what happened with the Nassar case because they didn't want to go on to graphic details in the mainstream media. This documentary has some graphic details but not overly so and I now I know what happened via video footage of Nassar being interrogated and other information contained here.

As a child I was involved in another professional sport and feel like the genius of this documentary is to point out how such professional sports can grow to be very toxic organizations who come to care little about the people the organization is living their lives off of. The leaders of USA Gymnastics clearly didn't care but only wanted to live their lives off the wholesome image of the sport.

I would give a lot of the kudos to Rachael Denhollander who came off as a clear headed, believable "accuser". Without her steady firm recalling of events I am sure it might not have gone further. This story really points out to me and makes me sad, how little women and girls are believed. Now of course, some women have lied before and that continues to be the reason allegations are met with skepticism. But it remains distressing that in general I feel no one would have tried something like this with men.

Ultimately though I hope that parents who do watch this "get" that if they take their kids to sports they don't allow their kids out of their sight. My parents were sometimes accused of being weird but they didn't tolerate anything at all where they could not be present at all times. I don't blame the parents here because as you can see USA Gymnastics wanted to have complete control of their kids -- or their kids would suffer. So they had little choice. But going forward any organization like that has to be rejected immediately because this is exactly the type of thing that can (and probably will) happen.

Great documentary. I liked how they recounted the editorial strategy of the newspaper. I wish they had spent a bit of time on the 1997 report to Michigan State University. Left in tears at the end because of the sheer number of girls assaulted over the years. It just indicates how much crime still goes completely unpunished.

I cannot believe how corrupt the US Gymnastics is after watching the documentary. The pain the victims have suffered is heartbreaking for me. I really admire those women who stood out and wish them all the best.

These women were ignored, destroyed, ignored again and they still came back and got justice and peace unfortunately it took hundreds of victims to get there

First off this is a well made documentary, the tone is hopeful and the survivors are treated respectfully. The timeline is well established and the interviews relevant to telling the story. The subject matter is heartbreaking, but now that this is out in the open, hopefully the survivors can heal and the investigations continue.

No matter what you watch about the subject you will be effected by it. The young women who finally came out as older women are true heroes and have got guts. I've watched a couple of different documentaries on this monster Larry Nasser and the horrible abuse and rape that countless women were subject to throughout his long career of working with these athletes. I will say that the HBO doc was a bit more in depth but nonetheless very powerful. This is a subject that is difficult to hear but very important for all to see. The women who came forward at the trial of this predator are true rock stars , and should be celebrated.

This documentary hit Netflix today and I had the chance to watch Athlete A and here is my review for it. The premise of the film documents the real story of Dr Larry Nassar and how he molested young gymnastics for 30 years and how US Athletics covered it up.

Now this film deals with a really intense and disturbing subject matter and it does it really well. As you learn more and more you realise just how disgusting and horrific the actions by Nassar was and just how badly run the US Gymnastics was and how they aided this pedophile which is just truly horrifying.

The thing that makes this really awful, is that by all accounts Nassar seemed like a nice guy and the nicest guy at US Athletics. But he used this to break all the trust issues that there was and let him commit these horrible acts and it is so satisfying seeing him get taken down.

But this film did have some negatives and it is mostly due to it's pacing. I felt like there was some background information that was presented here that didn't add that much to the story. It would have been fine for a mini series but this is only a 1 hour 45 film so it dawdles at times when it shouldn't be. Also if feels like it skips over the really interesting parts involved in this whole case.

Also, obviously seeing all these gymnasts revealing their stories are highly emotional I just wish they could of got Simone Biles to take part. She revealed to the court that she was a victim and with her being the most famous gymnast in the world it would have added more star power here.

Overall, this is a good documentary with a disturbing subject matter. But it has some pacing issues which hurts it and would have maybe been better as a mini series.

Rating - 7/10.

This was a good documentary but I feel it was done in a very basic way. It is hard to describe.

It is horrible what happened. The corruption is unimaginable. What transpired over 29 years - it is impossible to fathom how that was possible.

The story is absolutely unbelievable, unimaginable, and impossible to make up.

Conclusion: definitely worth watching and recommending.

9/10 - good documentary; recommend it.

One of the greatest scandals in sports. Larry took the advantage of an organisation and he lost his mind. There were hundreds of complaints against him about sexual abuse. He is like never ending. Maggie is the first survivor who raised her voice at organisation. But Rachel is the woman who accused Larry publicly. Sad to see Maggie is not selected by committee when she stands sixth in list. When I saw Larry was the main Candidate in the list ..I didn't expect that Ex-president would Tamper the evidence against him. I was like wtf ..!

As is typical of almost all Netflix documentaries, this is a second or third rate product. HBO produced a superb documentary called "At the Heart of Gold" which deals with the same subject matter. Its better in every way possible than "Athlete A". You can currently watch it on YouTube.

For example, the HBO doc has a lot ofriveting courtroom scenes that are very telling about the Nassar case, None of this is in the Netflix product. The HBO doc had me in tears, the Netflix doc left. me underwhelmed.

It's tough to know how to evaluate Athlete A. I tend to be someone who rates/ranks movies based on my enjoyment of a film, but there is nothing to "enjoy" here. Athlete A is the kind of film that made me sob in tears and want to put my fist through someone's face. It gave me chills of horror and fits of anger (amplified by the fact that some of the vile events discussed in it took place mere minutes from where I live.) None of these are pleasant emotions, but the fact that I felt them so intensely is a sign that the filmmakers did their job. I have nothing but appreciation for the skill that went into presenting the story of the awful things that went on behind the scenes of US Olympic Gymnastics for decades.

Athlete A is a movie that needed to be made, about a story that people need to know, but it is also a sensitive topic that will be hard (perhaps impossible) for some viewers to watch. I will say, while the details of what went on are discussed without holding back, there is some tact in the way it is presented. It's a tough balance, but I think they did a great job. The film tackles the subject from 2 different angles. One side is presenting the way the story was broken by a newspaper, and how that led to countless victims coming forward to form the case against this predatory "doctor." The other aspect of the film is a series of one-on-one interviews with some of the victims and their families as they discuss what happened.

You have to applaud all these young women who came forward and were willing to relive devastating moments in their lives. They display such strength and maturity that it is truly inspiring. Of course, the more you admire these women, the more angry you get at those who victimized them, those who played a part in allowing it to happen, and those involved in covering up the truth. This is a blight on USA gymnastics, and makes me sick when I recall watching Olympic events and seeing those faces on the sidelines. There's no doubt that Athlete A tells the truth in a powerful way, and I'm grateful that some filmmakers were skilled enough to do this story justice. They share the ugly truth in Athlete A so that others can learn from what happened to these girls, and hopefully we can avoid situations like this in the future.

Athlete A deals with a major issue that has been kept under the carpet for decades. A bold attempt that emphasises on turning away from not supporting the victims equals committing the crime itself. Netflix nailed it.

If you're looking for a documentary that has an amazing sense of style or unique presentation, you may be disappointed, as from a filmmaking standpoint it's decent but maybe unremarkable. It looks like 95% of all the other documentaries produced for Netflix, and I still swear that all these Netflix documentaries have the exact same composer, or maybe the same library of stock music because they all sound exactly the same. This wouldn't be a problem if they didn't all rely on having a constant musical score so much.

HOWEVER: for what this documentary exposes, and for how it makes you understand and feel for the survivors, and for explaining how abuse can get buried within large institutions that have a power imbalance, it's fantastic. It's similar to another documentary from 2012 called The Invisible War in that regard (which I'd highly recommend to anyone who liked this one).

It takes a little while to get going, but thankfully it ends strong, and I love that it gives a sense of hope and catharsis to the survivors that you don't always get in all thematically heavy and emotionally draining documentaries like this.

(The only other thing I can comment on is that it felt like some of the scenes with the journalists discussing how to report the main case in question felt like they might have been dramatised? I can't prove it of course, but their conversations felt slightly stilted, and given that the documentary doesn't focus on the journalists, I find it hard to believe that the camera crew happened to capture this exact conversation when it spontaneously happened. It's such a small point, and it might well just be me who thought that, but I had to get it out regardless.)

Those poor girls! cover up!! I will never watch olympics the same again.

What an amazing film. Must see for any parent with a child in sports; better yet anyone in charge of protecting children, teaching children, raising children. These children were failed by every adult involved in their training. Lack of protection equals neglect. Power and intimidation allowed famous trainers to turn their heads on crime in exchange for medals and fame. Mandatory reporting is dismissed and trivialized. Business is business and money is money at the expense of children...KUDOS to these brave young athletes and their families. Entrusting our kids to other adults does NOT guarantee safety...#speakup

The documentary was well done but I have two concerns. 1. The use of the word Survivor. I believe the word should be used when surviving a life and death situation and not interjected where "victim" is more accurate. These girls lives were never at risk. As tragic as their experiences, it needs to be in the proper context of a pervert and a perverted system taking advantage of young girls. 2. How come the women involved in the coverup have not been prosecuted? There was ample evidence of several coaches that could have gone to the Police to protect these young girls. Aren't they as culpable as Mr. Penny and the Karolyi's?

I'm glad that Maggie Nichols' story was told here as she was unfairly denied of a place in the Rio games women's team due to the powers that be. Unlike the HBO one, which a memento for the victims, this is truly a documentary of the various going-ons after the story exploded. It also provided introductions of the persons who came into power at USAG, which was run like a company. The most shocking part was how the story "died" when it went up to the FBI, because Steve Penny (then CEO of USAG) wanted to offer the FBI investigating agent a job in USAG.

Great production and story telling. My only disappointment is that they left out the part of Rachael's testimony when she speaks about the gospel and forgiveness. In today's cancel culture there is only room for self-righteousness and no room for forgiveness. I wish they would have shown that side of her.

This movie view on the gymnatics problems is rather racist. And it is a dangerous perspective presented that way.

It describes Romanian abusive coucher as main starter of the problem. And that USA was "just copying" the reciepe for succes...

No. Comunist or Capitalism-they have no problems in accepting abuse for succes.

I even have read comments here "they continued with their Romanian abusive style.." No, it's not Romanian. The real issue is that the abuse is everywhere accepted for the same purpose.

This story is absolutely heartbreaking. For years these young women and girls were manipulated and abused and those who could have stopped it didn't, because they are corrupted by money and power. I have nothing but respect for the survivors and truly hope they can find peace.