“Surviving Ohio State” is upsetting and devastating, but also deeply sad because — as is common in similar cases — the film presents claims that those in positions of power looked the other way or tried to bury concerns when they were raised.

It may not be as sensational and buzzy as bringing down a major university or a sitting congressman, but since Surviving Ohio State won’t do either thing, it’s worth praising the potency of what it does well.

Personally, as a viewer who, like Orner, is also not American, I find on-screen portrayals of American college life are about as foreign of a concept as you can get. Accurate or not, it just comes across like an entirely different planet.

Surviving Ohio State is more than a documentary; it’s a reckoning. It forces us to confront brutal truths about power, trust, and the cost of silence.