The Order of Myths

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Dating back to the 1700s, Mobile, Alabama's Mardi Gras celebration is the oldest in the country -- and it's still going strong today. With the annual event as its focus, this documentary explores the city, its mystical societies and race relations. Tens of thousands of enthusiastic revelers descend upon downtown Mobile each year to take part in a variety of colorful parades, balls and festivities. Margaret Brown's work was nominated for Best Documentary for the Independent Spirit Awards.
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Netflix Rating: 3.2
NYT Critics' Pick: "The Order of Myths" is a wise and soberly affecting documentary about the separate but unequal Mardi Gras festivities that take place each year in Mobile, Ala. Read the review
Rotten Tomatoes: Fresh 100%: Consensus: More than a documentary about the oldest Mardi Gras celebration in the south, Order of Myths encompasses the eccentric characters of Mobile and the still-lingering racial tensions that surround them.
Fresh: 32 Rotten: 0 Rotten Tomatoes page
Top Rotten Tomatoes Critics: A well-constructed documentary about a surprising remnant of segregation in the new South, The Order of Myths gracefully explores Mobile's Mardi Gras celebrations and profiles the young people playing at royalty at these ceremonies' hearts.

Dan Kois, Washington Post

An invaluable portrait of us-and-them America, a smart, generous, poignant, quietly disturbing movie about secrecy and hospitality. full review

Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times

On both sides of the Mobile Mardi Gras divide, people seem to be edging toward a desire for reconciliation, but there remain significant differences about what that might entail. full review

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com

Wise and soberly affecting documentary about the separate but unequal Mardi Gras festivities that take place each year in Mobile, Ala.

Manohla Dargis, New York Times

To say each group takes this tradition seriously can in no way convey the absolute nuttiness and frenzy that filmmaker Margaret Brown has captured. full review

Sara Vilkomerson, New York Observer

Quietly shocking, The Order of Myths is a deft, engrossing cross-section of Mobile life, heavy on local color and insight. full review

Vadim Rizov, Village Voice

Entertaining, mind-opening docs open every month, but none has broken through to a wide audience. Now comes the latest winner, Margaret Brown's penetrating The Order of Myths. full review

David Edelstein, New York Magazine

Editors Michael Taylor, Geoffrey Richman and [director Margaret Brown] have stitched the material together to make a lively and revealing portrait of life in the New South.

James Greenberg, Hollywood Reporter

Order of Myths looks good, and its characters are memorable. full review

John Anderson, Variety