THE GUARDIAN (UK) - WINNERS ARE BORING! THE GENIUS NETFLIX DOC THAT CELEBRATES LOSERS
“From the world’s flukiest boxer to a berserk tale about Torquay United, sporting fails are so much more glorious than successes – and these epic tales of defeat shine”
THE NEW YORKER - “LOSERS” TELLS WARM STORIES ABOUT SOME OF SPORTS’ HARDEST-LUCK CASES
“In this moment, when many of the self-proclaimed winners around us are so wanting in their humanity, it’s invigorating to pass some time with people who are speaking honestly about disappointment.”
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER - ‘LOSERS’: TV REVIEW
“What is perhaps most lovely about the series is that as much as the subjects and their sports vary, the definitions of what constitutes "losing" and "winning" vary as well.”
INDIEWIRE - ‘LOSERS’ REVIEW: NETFLIX SERIES SHOWS THE FASCINATING SIDE OF SPORTS FAILURE
"But what makes director Mickey Duzyj’s series such a compelling watch is that, rather than turning these defining moments into Greek tragedies with drama-drenched retellings of scorn and mockery, there’s an overwhelming sense of empathy for how disproportionate some of these reactions can be.”
USA TODAY “FOR THE WIN” - MEET THE CREATOR OF ‘LOSERS’, the NETFLIX DOCUSERIES WE ALL NEED RIGHT NOW
“More and more it seems like we as a whole have lost the ability to not only understand that losing is a part of life but to also be OK with the feelings that come with defeat or falling short of something.”
NPR ON POINT (RADIO SHOW) - SPECTACULAR SPORTS FAILURES AND WHAT WE LEARN FROM LOSING
“Winning isn’t everything. It’s about how we handle failure. We unpack stories of defeat and redemption as told in Netflix’s "Losers."“
PRINT MAGAZINE - MICKEY DUZYJ ANIMATES HIS WAY TO TWO EMMY NODS WITH “LOSERS”
“We always say we learn more from our failures than we do our successes, but then never get around to telling stories that don’t have Hollywood endings.”
THE NEW YORK TIMES - WEEKEND TV RECOMMENDATIONS
“Losers” blends regular documentary footage with evocative animation, which makes the small moments more intimate and emotional and the big moments feel like a fairy tale.”
THE TIMES (UK) - THE BEST TV AND FILMS ON DEMAND
“Covering a wide range of sports — boxing, soccer, figure skating, curling, golf, minor-league football — Duzyj and his team are attuned to the sadness, vulnerability and sensitivity of his subjects while still managing to convey a note of uplift. Wonderful stuff.”
THE GLOBE AND MAIL (CANADA) - LOSERS ON NETFLIX: THRILLING SERIES ABOUT REAL SPORTS HEROES
“While (the show) is ostensibly about individuals and their infamous moments of failure, it’s really about change and disruption.”
NEW YORK MAGAZINE - LOSING AIN’T WHAT IT USED TO BE
“It’s a series that looks at failure as simply another page in a novel rather than the end of it, the beginning of an ultimately heartwarming narrative rather than the moment a competitor can never live down or forget. Losing isn’t the end of their lives; losing becomes their origin story.”
ANIMATION WORLD NETWORK - THE WINNING ANIMATED RE-CREATIONS OF NETFLIX ‘LOSERS’ DOCU-SERIES
“In a world fighting a deadly pandemic, Losers provides a well-needed uplifting message about humanity’s ability to rise above the shame so unfairly associated with failure.”
PSYCHOLOGY TODAY - WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A LOSER
“Losers provides powerful illustrations of how to reshape defeats into triumphs.”
AWFUL ANNOUNCING - MICKEY DUZYJ DISCUSSES SPORTS EMMY NOMINATIONS
“After all these years slandered as ‘losers,’ it’d definitely be poetic justice if they pulled off the upset.”
THINK CHRISTIAN - THE AMAZING GRACE OF NETFLIX’S LOSERS
“Brilliantly, Losers doesn’t only put us in the place of these athletes, calling us to consider our response to trials or shore up the places we lack perspective. Through the eyes of their experience, we see our participation in the very sins and structures that stressed these competitors.”
THE DAILY DOT - In ‘losers,’ NO ONE PREPARES FOR DEFEAT—THEY SURVIVE IT
“Duzyj not only investigates losing as a concept through each story, but he examines the broad nature of failure as a tool and portal to a brand-new life, often extending beyond the subjects’ own lives.”
NEWS 18 - LOSERS REVIEW: NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY EXPLORES THE HIDDEN SIDES OF DEFEAT. 5 STARS
“Mickey Duzyj, through 'Losers', has vehemently opposed the manifestation of triumph in popular culture and, in the process, has shown a masterful control over the art of storytelling.”
THE STRAITS TIMES (SINGAPORE) - NETFLIX’S LOSERS IS WINNINGLY WATCHABLE
“You need to think about losers because we need to look past podiums and appreciate that this entire adventure on fields and rinks isn’t just about being first. It’s far more profound and harrowing. It’s a search for self-esteem, an act of survival, a discovery of personal limits, a study in self-loathing, a willingness to bounce back irrespective of what a game does to you. Winning is not just about gold but sometimes about finding yourself.”
DECIDER - ‘LOSERS’ ON NETFLIX, A DOCUSERIES ABOUT ATHLETES WHO HAVE THRIVED THROUGH FAILURE
“Anyone who is reeling should watch this series to inspire them and make them realize that the dark times are just what we experience on the way to better times if you have the right frame of mind.”
THE MORNING CALL - NEW ON NETFLIX: “LOSERS” REVEALS THAT HOW WE COMPETE IS HOW WE WIN
“Each film short celebrates the sporting and courageous spirit that compels us to participate, play, compete and finish strong.”
BBC (UK) - TORQUAY UNITED’S GREAT ESCAPE FEATURES IN NETFLIX SERIES
DEVON LIVE (UK) - POLICE DOGS, BOOZY CELEBRATIONS and stoppage time salvation: THE REMARKABLE STORY of Torquay United’s GREAT ESCAPE of 1987
“It tells the story with gusto, humour and a fair bit of sympathy.”
GOLF.com - JEAN VAN DE VELDE’s CARTOONISH COLLAPSE at 1999 BRITISH OPEN REVISITED IN WHIMSICAL NEW NETFLIX DOC
“For Van de Velde, there is, at this point, not much to be learned by rehashing the details of the ’99 British Open. But there are lessons for the rest of us in this film.”
SHORT OF THE WEEK - S/W ALUM MICKEY DUZYJ ON HIS NEW NETFLIX SHOW”LOSERS” and the short that inspired it
“Sports, with its obsession with victory and its habit towards romantic mythologizing, proved to be a ripe subject for this sort of subversive reconsideration, and we were delighted by how much we enjoyed the show.”
LE MONDE (FRANCE) - Losers Lose, but Bounce Back with Panache
“Despite its title, this documentary series deals with to their desire to surpass themselves, and to their intimate journey after a failure (or non-victory.)”
CORRIERE DELLA SERA (ITALY) - The Other Side of Sport, The Champions who have Lost
“None of the "losers" give up- indeed they continue with more strength and determination to seek their place in the world.”
EL COMERCIO (PERU) - “Losers” by Netflix: The Elegant Way to Fail
“Most of these men and women, even striving to the fullest, went headlong against their own physical limits or simply against what some call fate; others, bad luck; and others, reality. All, however, found an indirect form of realization and were able to de-dramatize what once seemed like a tragedy with no way out.”
REDDIT AMA - MICKEY DUZYJ
“I wondered what we were missing out on being so obsessed with winning. The need to be a "winner" is ubiquitous in sports… but it also exists in business, politics, social media, and elsewhere. And why wouldn't we be?- we associate virtue with winning/being rich/being famous.”