VARIETY: “Drop Dead City” falls into a category of documentary I think of as wonkish but gripping. Produced and directed by Peter Yost and Michael Rohatyn, the film is about the financial cataclysm that hit New York City in 1975, when the powers that be figured out that the city was $6 billion in debt.

THE NEW YORKER: The delight of “Drop Dead City” is that it’s a symphony of voices, past and present. The film’s interviews mesh, even rhyme, with archival clips documenting events as they unfolded, participants discussing their activities in the moment, and news reports that aired at the time. 

THE NEW YORK TIMES: This surprisingly entertaining film examines the 1975 fiscal crisis that nearly led the city to bankruptcy. The movie’s conclusions remain relevant today.

THE NEW YORK REVIEW: With absorbing footage of gutted apartment buildings and ravaged storefronts, Drop Dead City anatomizes the drama of New York’s descent into near bankruptcy.

GOTHAMIST: The mayor of New York City is widely seen as incompetent. Inflation is near record highs as the wider economy slows, subway ridership is down while the MTA faces a growing budget gap, and the White House is threatening to pull the city’s federal funding over political disagreements.

Cinema Daily: Who knew that a film about accountants, bureaucrats, and municipal bond offerings could ever be interesting, let alone downright enjoyable? After all, hasn’t economics often been referred to as the “dismal science”?

The agony of the subways also has more than a few New Yorkers worrying that they’ve begun an inexorable descent, maybe even back to the 1970s, when the city endured what could reasonably be described as a near-death experience.