Surviving R. Kelly is devastating to watch, but it delves comprehensively into the singer's abusive past.

Variety

"What makes this docuseries so crucial beyond its singularity is its dogged insistence on indicting not just Kelly, but everyone in the music industry and beyond who have allegedly enabled him," says Caroline Framke of the six-hour Lifetime docuseries premiering tonight. "As one survivor puts it, 'the reason why he could do it is because he had people helping him' — and as Surviving R. Kelly convincingly argues, he still does to this day. It’s a stark, horrifying reminder that merely saying 'Time’s Up' for abuse doesn’t mean it is, and that fighting sexual violence means fighting a system explicitly built to minimize it whenever possible." ALSO: Surviving R. Kelly is a humane accounting of an abusive celebrity’s life that does not treat their crimes as an asterisk or an afterthought.