Film Review: 14TH: Ava DuVernay’s Bold Film is an Incredible Accomplishment [NYFF 2026]

14th Review

14th (2026) Film Review from the 64th Annual New York Film Festival, a movie directed by Ava DuVernay and starring Stacey Abrams, David Blight, Lonnie Bunch, Robert S. Chang, Jelani Cobb, Jasmine Crockett, Ava DuVernay, Jeff Flake, Eric Foner, Carla Hayden, Sherrilyn Ifill, Van Lathan Jr., Anna Paulina Luna, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Hasan Minhaj and Paul Mooney.

Filmmaker Ava DuVernay’s masterfully constructed documentary, 14th, is a powerful companion piece to the director’s 13th. This new film is a representation of the America we live in today. It’s a perfect time in the country to show the realties of these times, and how our Founding Fathers and Framing Fathers’s principles have led to a need for others to step in order to salvage a situation which has spun out of control. There’s nothing featured in 14th that is sugar-coated. This film is a hard-hitting reminder of our current political realities and it’s not a pretty picture.

Some of the earlier scenes in 14th set the stage for the frighteningly intense ones that follow in the latter half of the picture. This film initially traces the evolution of the constitution with emphasis on the 14th amendment. One day, Donald Trump comes into office and turns the country over. This new picture isn’t afraid to show the consequences of his actions and what could become of them in the future.

There are no sadder scenes in 14th than when the film shows ICE making their arrests. However, the movie deals with the very delicate matters it presents in an intelligent way. DuVernay opens up the floor for conversations rather than simply spelling out opinions on some of the most hard-pressing topics that are occurring in the country.

When the Librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden, is fired at a point in the movie, the audience can certainly feel frustrated, especially when someone states that Hayden was doing something she clearly was not in an interview question. This film also shows Trump trying to put the brakes on the need for diversity in the country. A comedian deals with this in a humorous way, stating that people may start doing things illegally such as pulling lesbian resumes from other sources for diversity purposes. This film is no laughing matter, despite a brief moment or two, though.

At the core of the movie is attorney Sherrilyn Ifill, who makes some brave and accurate commentary that rings particularly true about the status of the country today and the possibility of the need for reform. This film makes one afraid of what could come in the future as many groups of people have been affected by the current political climate in the country. What could come next may affect you, and this film drives that point home many times over.

Other speakers in the film include Stacey Abrams, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Robert S. Chang, all of whom are among those who have points that cannot be ignored. When a Senator gets handcuffed at a given interval in the film, there are some scary implications that we may be losing some of the freedoms we were supposed to be granted as citizens of this country.

This film concludes with a very important song, “Makings of Tomorrow,” which could be deserving of an Oscar nomination, given the urgency of the situation the song addresses. 14th is a movie about the need to realize what is happening in America. Made by a filmmaker who has never been afraid of taking risks, the film is startling in how it makes one realize the importance of trying to recognize some of the problems happening before it’s too late. It’s hard to discuss a film like this without bringing one’s own beliefs regarding Trump’s policies into the equation. However, the movie is almost always objective, as it clearly states what the President has done with specific evidence backing up the interviews that are showcased in the movie.

It is not always easy to watch certain aspects of 14th, but it is necessary to see the film in order to form one’s own viewpoints on what can be done going forward to keep the overall principles of the country intact. A film like this is important in the same way other prestigious documentaries have been in the past. Any good movie like this opens eyes and this film certainly does that in a provocative way. DuVernay is in top form here, adding the necessary dimensions to topics which aren’t simply black or white, regardless of what some of our key politicians say.

Rating: 9/10

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