‘Checkpoint Zoo’ Review – Moving Documentary Embodies The Greater Good [Tribeca 2024]

At least in concept, Checkpoint Zoo is a perfect documentary. It does exactly what a good documentary should, and what only the genre can; it spotlights the unseen, brings to the surface details unknown, and targets a story that would’ve likely never been told otherwise.

This one specifically is a heartbreaker. Early on in the Russia/Ukraine conflict, during a Russian invasion in 2022, a zoo was left stranded behind enemy lines. Droves of various animals were regrettably abandoned, left trapped and to die in the dark recesses of their enclosures in the Feldman Ecopark in Kharkiv, Ukraine.

Of course, the tale (thankfully) didn’t end there. The film follows the crew that went in to extract and save the thousands of endangered animals; their thoughts, their heroic actions, and everything it took to make those ends meet. Though no detail is spared, as the film, sporting a runtime of nearly two hours, takes the time to spin every single wheel.

On a basic yet essential level, this is a very well-made film. The footage of the animals, as moving as it is without any help, is shot moodily, with a tinge of tangible dread. There’s a hint of desperation in the shaky camera movements and sporadic cuts, overlaid with melancholic voiceover that describes the dire nature of the scenario as it stood.

Interviews are dramatic, poignant, and comprehensive. Director Joshua Zeman clearly shares a passion for this topic with the people in front of the camera, and that translates well to all of his work behind it. There’s a connectedness, a kind of tether between his work as a filmmaker and the content that he’s molding. As a result, it’s easy for the audience to tie onto that too, and jump right onto the front lines of a story that’s suited to pluck the heartstrings of millions.

The actual content is fittingly straightforward and, again, stringently detailed. Checkpoint Zoo is more than just the animals; it provides the necessary context for the warring landscape and politics surrounding the setting along the way. It really feels like a piece that represents the time in which it was made, and may very well be looked back on in that way. It represents the kind of heart-of-man resilience that makes so many stories immortal. The same effect is present here.

Where many documentaries slip up is in simply doing too much; burrowing too many rabbit holes, or going too deep. If anything is wrong with this film, it’s that it does the same every now and again. In utilizing that exhaustive runtime, the film squeezes everything that it can out of the content, and thus the viewer, too.

There’ll never be a moment that you aren’t sympathizing with the subject matter here, but you’ll get the point pretty much as soon as it starts, and after a while, you could end up feeling like you’re going through the motions between the bigger stages of the project.

But even the downtime presents valuable information, and Checkpoint Zoo earns more points than it loses in that aspect as well. It’s rare that a documentary lands on the scene and is as immediately immersive and impactful as this one. Minor hiccups aside, you simply can’t do better than this in the documentary genre right now, and really, it may be one of the best efforts of this ilk that we’ve seen this decade thus far.

There’s something here for everyone to grab onto, and if it wasn’t clear enough, the message is one of relevant importance. There’s good in everybody, and it’s refreshing to see a piece of media highlight that, rather than exploit it. Checkpoint Zoo is an excellent documentary all the way through.

Checkpoint Zoo held its World Premiere as a part of the Documentary Competition section of the 2024 Tribeca Festival.

Director: Joshua Zeman

Rated: NR

Runtime: 103m