‘Mineshaft: The Cruising Murders’ Review: Compelling Documentary Probes the Legacy of William Friedkin’s Infamous Queer Thriller

‘Mineshaft: The Cruising Murders’ Review: Doc Shines A Light On William Friedkin's Thriller

“Kinks are eroticized fears,” says author Dan Savage in this fascinating documentary, which takes a brutal murder as its starting point and goes on to paint a portrait of pre-Aids New York, with the filming of William Friedkin’s Cruising (1980) as its backdrop. Not all Friedkin’s films hit the zeitgeist in the way that his signature film The Exorcist did just a few years previously, but, certainly, none were as reviled as Cruising. Though he doe…

‘Mineshaft: The Cruising Murders’ Review: Compelling Documentary Probes the Legacy of William Friedkin’s Infamous Queer Thriller

Examining the controversy around 'Cruising,' Jeffrey Schwarz's 'Mineshaft: The Cruising Murders' captures a tipping point in pre-AIDS queer culture.

‘Mineshaft: The Cruising Murders’ Review: An Engrossing if Incohesive Dive Into William Friedkin’s Gay S&M Thriller and Its Surrounding Controversy

Queer culture doc specialist Jeffrey Schwarz looks at the killing that inspired the 1980 film 'Cruising' and the protests triggered by perceptions of internalized homophobia, exploitation and stigmatization.

"Mineshaft: The Cruising Murders" - Tribeca 2026 Film Review

A fascinating doc revisits the making of William Friedkin's controversial thriller set in the gay underground, fleshing out a story long missing empathy. The post Tribeca 2026 Review: Jeffrey Schwarz’s “Mineshaft: The Cruising Murders” Revisits a Crime with Great Empathy appeared first on The Moveable Fest.