I Am Ready, Warden

I Am Ready Warden is a split-perspective documentary. It moves between the lives the two central characters are forced to live, the morals the documentary presents, the media and the victims, and quite literally between the private conversations the victims are having—whether it be phone calls in backyards or interviews in living rooms. This creates real nuance around the issue, one that fosters empathy rather than a narrow leap to judgment. The viewer is made to feel as though this is happening to them, that they must face the severity of the tragedy head-on.

I am wholeheartedly against the death penalty, and this film didn’t change my view one way or the other. However, it did allow me to feel for these people and confront the horrors of this inhumane system through their eyes.

The film’s structure recalls Werner Herzog’s Into the Abyss, which similarly explores the death penalty, though in a longer, more narrative-driven format. I Am Ready Warden distinguishes itself by its sharp, dual perspective: dividing the narrative between the murderer and the victim. This approach invites the viewer to wrestle with the complexities of the system it seeks to critique. While I may not share the victim’s pro-death stance, the film humanizes him in a way that compels empathy, regardless of ideological differences. The short documentary format serves the film well, delivering a concise and pointed thesis. By the time we reach the final shot—a chilling letter, ending with the man on death row writing I Am Ready Warden—the audience has been fully immersed in an almost unimaginable reality, feeling the weight of the traumatic lives these individuals are forced to endure.