“Mineshaft: The Cruising Murders,” reviewed from the Tribeca Festival, investigates the cultural impact of William Friedkin’s 1980 erotic thriller “Cruising” through a combination of a specific crime and historical context. Both outlets describe the documentary as beginning with a brutal murder case and using it as a lens to explore pre-AIDS New York, including the social world depicted in or associated with the film. The documentaries’ approach also ties the investigation to Friedkin’s production of “Cruising,” which serves as a backdrop for broader discussion.
The sources note that “Cruising” has a contentious legacy. They describe how the film was long criticized and denounced by members of the queer community that it purported to represent, while later finding a measure of reappraisal as a mainstream snapshot of a vanished social scene. The reviews characterize the documentary as attempting to disentangle the movie’s onscreen achievements from its harm and the debates surrounding its portrayal of queer life. Dan Savage’s commentary is cited in one review as part of the film’s thematic framing.
