Amazing Grace
Neon | Release Date: November 23, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
94
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
28
Mixed:
0
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
LarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenJul 29, 2021
Holy Moses! (No need to desecrate this with any more words.) Read full review
100
The GuardianPeter BradshawMay 10, 2019
I felt wrung out at the end of this film. How incredible must it have been for those who were there in person. Read full review
100
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldApr 11, 2019
Painstakingly reassembled by producer Alan Elliott (Pollack, who never gave up hope on the project, died in 2008), Amazing Grace shows us an artist at the peak of her powers. Read full review
100
Original-CinLiam LaceyApr 11, 2019
No doubt, it’s pretty great to watch and listen to Franklin, 29 at the time and at the height of her powers, demonstrating her mastery in the genre of music she grew up on. Read full review
100
Washington PostAnn HornadayApr 10, 2019
Amazing Grace can now be seen in all its aesthetic, spiritual and historical glory. And even more gratifyingly, it is as simple and unaffected as Aretha Franklin herself is in the film. Read full review
100
The PlaylistJoe BlessingApr 5, 2019
Amazing Grace is a showcase of one of America’s greatest talents and a rush of pure spiritual uplift. There are only so many ways to praise Franklin’s voice and they all fall short – just go and hear it for yourself. Read full review
100
The A.V. ClubVikram MurthiApr 4, 2019
One of the great performances of the 20th century. Read full review
100
Rolling StonePeter TraversApr 2, 2019
It’s the closest thing to witnessing a miracle — just some cameras, a crowd and a voice touched by God. Read full review
100
The Film StageJohn FinkDec 20, 2018
Amazing Grace is a rousing performance lensed with simple, raw, intimate filmmaking that’s unforgettable and nourishing for the soul. Read full review
100
The New York TimesWesley MorrisNov 29, 2018
You get both the most lovely gaze a professional camera’s ever laid upon Aretha Franklin and some of the mightiest singing she’s ever laid on you. The woman practically eulogizes herself. Don’t bother with tissues. Bring a towel. Read full review
100
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangNov 21, 2018
Aretha Franklin didn’t transcend the gospel or gospel music; as first her album and now this marvelous documentary remind us, she did more than most to fulfill its potential for truth and beauty, devotion and art. Read full review
100
RogerEbert.comOdie HendersonNov 14, 2018
This film is a powerful love letter to the Black Church, offering a soul-shaking introduction for the unfamiliar and a grandmotherly yank of the arm for those who know—it drags you from the theater straight into the pews. Read full review
100
VarietyOwen GleibermanNov 13, 2018
The effect is ecstatic; she sounds like the holiest of trumpets, with every note piercingly bright yet as soft as velvet. Listening to Franklin, you feel like you could ride that voice into the heavens. She’s not just a singer, she’s a human chariot. Read full review
100
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriNov 13, 2018
The result was one of the most acclaimed albums of her career — and one of the most elusive film projects of all time, full of twists and turns that would have made Orson Welles order a stiff drink. Read full review
100
Screen DailyDavid D'ArcyNov 13, 2018
It’s raw religion, and it’s a treasure. Read full review
100
TheWrapDan CallahanNov 13, 2018
Amazing Grace is a movie worth seeing and re-seeing and re-seeing again, a testament to the Queen of Soul at the height of her powers, live, in full color, in rich sound, resplendent. Read full review
95
Vanity FairK. Austin CollinsApr 12, 2019
Amazing Grace is a rare object: something truly mythical, something we’d only ever told stories about, that having finally arrived somehow lives up to its name. That’s saying something. The film is just as exhausting and beautiful as the recording sessions it documents, just as overflowing with those inexplicable qualities—that unquantified ability to reach directly into the soul that only the greatest art approaches. Read full review
88
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Brad WheelerApr 12, 2019
Yes, hallelujahs are in order. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeTy BurrApr 10, 2019
Both in spite of and because of the dichotomy, Amazing Grace demands to be seen, preferably in a crowded, testifying theater. The movie allows us the great, rare privilege of seeing (and hearing) the Queen of Soul reclaiming her soul, by herself, for herself, for her God. Read full review
88
The Associated PressJake CoyleApr 3, 2019
Part of the fun of Amazing Grace is watching not just those in the thrall of Franklin (Mick Jagger can be seen bopping in the back of the church) but witnessing the awe Franklin evokes. Read full review
88
Slant MagazineChuck BowenNov 19, 2018
It offers a profound glimpse of one of the greatest and most influential voices in modern music. Read full review
83
IndieWireEric KohnNov 13, 2018
Amazing Grace is soulful ear candy. But Franklin’s sweaty, impassioned delivery, which galvanizes her audiences with an electric charge, extends her awe-inspiring musical convictions beyond religious euphoria. It’s a rousing portrait of creativity as a unifying force. Read full review
80
CineVueSara MericanMay 17, 2019
This film is not just about Franklin, but also the communities that have inspired, guided and celebrated her music. Read full review
80
The Observer (UK)Mark KermodeMay 14, 2019
When a parishioner leaps to her feet, her spirit clearly moved, you’ll want to do the same. Wholy Holy indeed. Read full review
80
The TelegraphTim RobeyMay 9, 2019
If Amazing Grace can’t fathom the inner depths of Aretha in any definitive way, it grants her a great deal more than a little respect. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMichael KingApr 10, 2019
Backed by the Rev. James Cleveland, a small band, and the extraordinary Southern California Community Choir, Aretha delivers a stunning, inspirational performance, moving both the choir and the audience to paroxysms of joy and celebration. Read full review
70
Film ThreatLorry KiktaApr 4, 2019
There’s something for everyone in Amazing Grace. I would definitely recommend checking this out if you’re a fan of concert docs, or of the queen of soul. Even if you’re none of those things, it’s an interesting historical document, so give it a go! Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeNov 13, 2018
Amazing Grace will not enter the pantheon of concert films — it's somewhat shapeless as a movie, and gives little sense of emotional insight into the performer. But it does contain moments of bliss: As astonishing as the sound of Franklin's singing in 1972 remains, watching her do it is even better. Read full review
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