Harrowing war documentary with 100% on Rotten Tomatoes leaves Netflix fans in tears

has been on a roll with its 2025 releases, but one brutal new documentary has left viewers shaken - and even in tears. Surviving Black Hawk Down, a gripping three-part series, has soared to critical acclaim, boasting a rare 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes. While Netflix has already dropped major shows like gritty Western drama American Primeval and chilling sci-fi thriller Cassandra, reality has once again trumped fiction.

Surviving Black Hawk Down landed on the platform on February 10, and despite its relatively short time online, it has quickly made a huge impact, shooting to No. 3 on Netflix's top 10 most-watched list behind only Love is Blind and the grand finale of Cobra Kai. Most people know the story of the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu through the lens of the 2001 blockbuster Black Hawk Down. Director Ridley Scott's movie delivered a gripping, largely accurate depiction of the conflict and incorporated real testimonies from U.S. soldiers - but ultimately, it was still a cinematic retelling rather than the raw truth.

Surviving Black Hawk Down flips the focus, putting the real surviving soldiers front and centre to tell their stories in their own words.

The documentary also highlights the Somali civilians caught up in the chaos, blending interviews, intense reenactments, and real battle footage to paint a devastating picture of a day when countless lives were changed forever.

Produced by Ridley Scott and directed by Jack MacInnes, the docuseries gives most airtime to US troops, but Somali voices are also heard - including those who fought against the Americans - and crucially, they are not villainised.

While most of the docuseries is built around archive footage and interviews, there are also re-enactments of some of the most harrowing moments.

These scenes are gripping and seriously intense, doing a powerful job of conveying the sheer chaos of battle and bringing the survivors' chilling words to life.

Critics have also been quick to praise the documentary. Benji Wilson of the Irish Independent said: "'Surviving Black Hawk Down' does its utmost to render the absolute chaos of the battle while still offering context and hindsight."

Joel Keller of Decider praised the project for offering "an amount of detail that most people have never been exposed to before."

But some viewers have accused the series of bias - with one claiming it tries to "paint America in a negative light" and another arguing it leans too heavily towards U.S. troops - suggesting the documentary may have actually achieved the difficult task of finding a middle ground.

Other reviews were mixed,with fans sharing on X: "Netflix should donate the profit from this propaganda piece to the poor suffering people of Somalia who not only suffered on the hand of imperialist American war machine, but now Military industrial complex in conjunction is profiting from their suffering"

Another penned: "It is always fascinating to see how Somalia hasn't changed or progressed at all in the 34 years since the fall of the government."