October 8 (film)
2025 American documentary film From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
October H8TE – The Fight for the Soul of America ('October 8')[2] is a 2025 documentary film produced by Wendy Sachs and Debra Messing.
| October H8TE | |
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Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Wendy Sachs |
| Produced by |
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| Cinematography |
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| Edited by |
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| Music by | Sharon Farber |
| Distributed by | Briarcliff Entertainment |
Release date |
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Running time | 100 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $1.2 million[1] |
Synopsis
The film covers 2024 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses after the October 7 Hamas-led attacks on Israel.[3][4] It describes how "anti-Israel sentiment came to a fever pitch in the immediate aftermath of the massacre", and how such sentiment "morphed into antisemitism".[5] The film includes interviews with Michael Rapaport, Noa Tishby, U.S. Representative Ritchie Torres, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Sheryl Sandberg, Dan Senor, Scott Galloway, and Mosab Yousef.[3][6] It explores the organization of Students for Justice in Palestine, and argues that SJP promoted anti-Zionism, and ultimately antisemitism on campus.[7]
The film also covers the role of social media in stoking antisemitism among young people.[8] UCSB's student body president describes how she was harassed online and on campus after she condemned the October 7 attacks.[9]
Sachs stated her intent to show a non-Jewish audience "what antisemitism looks like today, for them to see, when they see a ‘Zionists not allowed’ sign, that means ‘Jew.’”[10]
Production
Co-produced by Wendy Sachs and Debra Messing, the film was co-edited by Inbal Lessner and Nimrod Erez.[11]
Critical reception
Summarize
Perspective
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 72% of 18 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.4/10.[12]
The documentary was shown at Miami's Jewish Film Festival.[13] Sharon Farber's score was nominated for a Hollywood Music In Media Award.[14][15] The Times of Israel noted that the film did not closely examine Qatar's influence, citing its own reporting on Qatar's contributing as much as $4.7 billion to US academic institutions between 2001 and 2021.[7] The Jerusalem Post described the film as Sachs' 'crowning achievement'.[8] Haaretz said the film paints a 'black-and-white picture' of the conflict.[16] Danielle Solzman called it 'the most important documentary of the year'.[17] The Washington Post praised its 'often-moving first-person student testimony', and noted the film's evidence that Hamas may be behind SJP, while lamenting its lack of criticism of the Israeli government and military.[18] The Hollywood Reporter called out some cherry-picking and 'questionable conclusions', adding "But there's no denying the importance of its message and the need for corrective action by political, academic, religious and civil leaders".[5]
Siddhant Adlakha criticized the film for "its omissions, which circumvent any history of Israeli-Palestinian conflict both before and after Oct. 7, 2023."[19] Variety criticized it as 'one-sided', adding that it was still "worth seeing" for its coverage of antisemitism and the political fallout of the campus protests.[20] In Defector, Jake Romm writes that "calling it a film at all is generous" and that watching it is more akin "to being trapped in a room with someone as they show you posts on their phone." Romm describes the film as being about American Zionist paranoia but claims that it is actually the pro-Palestinian movement that is being persecuted.[21]
See also
References
External links
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