Pariah 2011

Mary F. Pols, TIME Magazine: Pariah should be a special, important film for gay teens and their parents. Read more

Amy Biancolli, San Francisco Chronicle: The film benefits most of all from Rees' careful screenplay, which dances that shifting line between fear and emergent hope. One of Alike's poems says it best: "Even breaking is opening. And I am broken. I am open." Read more

James Rocchi, MSN Movies: Pariah plays like a longer, more complex addendum to the recent It Gets Better campaign aimed at sending messages of survival and strength to gay and lesbian teens... Read more

Stephen Holden, New York Times: At its heart is an incandescent performance by Ms. Oduye, who captures the jagged mood swings of late adolescence with a wonderfully spontaneous fluency. Read more

David Fear, Time Out: As clunky subplots and soap operatics start to nudge their way into the mix, the filmmaker seems unable to maintain that early tone and focus. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: The originality lies in the details, and the dramatic energy that sustains almost every scene. Read more

USA Today: The coming-out/coming-of-age story is almost a genre of its own, but Pariah has a fresh and distinctly urban take, anchored by an affable lead performance. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: An eloquent, haunting coming-of-age/ coming-out tale... Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: A small-scale, sensitive, humanist character study that's progressive and thoughtful without getting too far out of line. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: Especially rewarding about Oduye's performance is how she's able to portray that frustration while retaining hope and optimism. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: "Pariah'' really feels like something rare. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: Rees packs a lot into a simple narrative, and only rarely overpacks. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: The filmmaking is often wayward, the scenes of confrontation sometimes too stagey, but Oduye is a marvelous young actress with a camera-ready face brimming with soulfulness. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: Adepero Oduye is excellent as a Brooklyn teen coming to terms with her sexual identity in this gritty film Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: You don't have to be black or lesbian or even know someone who's gay to appreciate "Pariah"; you just have to have gone through or be going through the process of growing up. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: In her fearless, world-here-I-am! debut Pariah, writer-director Dee Rees demonstrates, with simplicity and verve, that there's no substitute for authenticity. Read more

John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter: First-timer Dee Rees offers a fresh take on the overfamiliar coming-out genre. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: Oduye as Alike is "Pariah's" subtle center, with the actress moving seamlessly between the tomboy thrilled to play hoops with her dad to the sour-faced daughter forced to wear pink by her mom. Read more

John Anderson, Newsday: The gay coming-of-age story's been done, but "Pariah" has something fresh to say, largely about the knotty complexities of love, and how they might keep someone in the closet: How badly do you need to be free, to hurt the people you love? Read more

Richard Brody, New Yorker: It's impossible not to root for Lee to assert her identity and to fulfill her dreams, but neither she nor the rest of the characters have any existence outside the script's exhortations. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: The message - that prejudice exists in every community - is one worth listening to. Read more

Ella Taylor, NPR: Pariah is a tender, sporadically goofy, yet candid examination of emergent identity. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: Something so honest and touching that you're instantly drawn in to its feelings and sense of place. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: This is a look at the joy, confusion and heartbreak of adolescence that's both culture- and locale-specific and, at the same time, universal. Read more

Gary Thompson, Philadelphia Inquirer: Read more

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: Rees tells Alike's story in vignettes that are sometimes slapstick, sometimes heartbreaking, always tender. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: The movie's point, which is impossible to miss, is that it's hard being black & gay in America and, while there's undoubtedly truth in that sentiment, it doesn't necessarily make for a compelling motion picture circa 2011. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: The film is an impressive debut for writer-director Dee Rees. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: The gifted Dee Rees makes finding out a stirring and heartfelt journey. And Adepero Oduye is unforgettable. A star is born. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Rees brings a heartfelt connection to the material, based on her own coming-out story, but the film's ingredients aren't the freshest. Read more

Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "Pariah" is a small film about a big subject: the struggle to be who you are, not who others would like you to be. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: If the destination is trite, the journey isn't - it comes with an ample supply of raw honesty. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: A moving story that's told with intelligence, heart and a working knowledge of the real world we live in. Read more

Bruce Demara, Toronto Star: Rees' script, peppered with colourful hip-hop argot, is smart and economical, with well-drawn characters, dialogue and situations that echo with authenticity. Read more

Andrew Barker, Variety: Vivid photography, true-to-life moments and a wonderful lead performance compensate for some first-timer missteps in debutante writer-director Dee Rees' Pariah. Read more

Melissa Anderson, Village Voice: Funny, moving, nuanced, and impeccably acted... Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: "Pariah" feels a lot like life, at its most confusing, contradictory and exhilarating. Read more