Sundance 2025 | Movie Review: "The Librarians" Is An Infuriating But Necessary Warning Arriving Past The Point of No Return
12/12 ForReel Score | 5/5 Stars
American freedom is often taught as singular moments in history. Hard won rights are boiled down to the most memorable ideals that best capture the victory and rarely demonstrate the long and strenuous battles on the frontlines. We often think of the sit ins during the Civil Rights Movement as a one time thing when it in fact took months. The Boycotts lasted for years, the marches were constant and often met with extreme violence. And of course we do this; it’s easier to immortalize the achievements rather than the long hard road it took to make them happen. The Librarians sheds this fantasy version of history and fight for freedoms, arriving at a time that feels necessary for it to be talked about but too late to matter now. The battle for freedoms are often fought in the dark first, in small towns and in places you least expect.
Image courtesy of Sundance Institute
Attacking education is always the first strike when it comes to trying to control a people and quell the opposition. So it makes sense that some of the hardest fought battles are taking place in public and school libraries, against people who have spent their careers avoiding the spotlight and fostering free and fair education. The Librarians exposes the revolting and infuriating culture war against access to information under the guise of protecting children. It zeros in on the rise of book banning in Texas and Florida, and sheds light on how devastating systemic racism and homophobia powered by religious zealotism can be. The Librarians digs deeper into the broader context of things we already know, and highlights real people who never wanted to fight being thrusts to the frontline.
The Librarians is a warning that comes far too late. Not by the fault of the documentary itself, but because most of what these career librarians were forced to fight for has been undone by an administration hellbent on reshaping the government from the ground up and dead set on erasing whole communities from history. The Librarians shows us how it starts, and sounds the alarm for how bad things can get if these people grandstanding on morality while spouting immoral rhetoric are allowed to succeed. Unfortunately they have succeeded, and while these brave women put themselves in harms way to protect intellectual freedom, it may all be for naught.
Image courtesy of Sundance Institute
Directed by Kim A. Snyder, she smartly takes a more standard documentary approach to the controversial material. The Librarians has plenty of talking heads and interviews but also takes us inside real time events at town halls and meetings as they clash with right wing organizations like Moms for Liberty. These librarians are unsung heroes fighting for freedoms they never thought they would have to defend. Snyder doesn’t shy away from the vitriol her subjects endure, and smartly demonstrates what’s at stake for not just our own freedoms but for the brave women up against the worst kind of people. The Librarians lays bare the morally corrupt and ignorant individuals who posture on baseless claims to silence anything they don’t like or don’t understand. It is reprehensible to listen to these people speak, and even more alarming to watch them win in most cases.
The Librarians is a hard but necessary watch, and you won’t find a more relevant and timely documentary this year. It is both a cautionary tale and a battle cry call to action. No matter how uncomfortable The Librarians makes you, everyone needs to see this film. It may be too late and the people on the wrong side of history have taken us past the point of no return, but that is never a reason to stop fighting. If the librarians are still out there pushing back against religious oppression and fascist ideals, then it’s on all of us to join them.