Beyond the Gates
Renaissance Films | Release Date: March 9, 2007 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
71
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
6
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Caton-Jones' refusal to pull back on showing exactly what happened to the 800,000 Rwandans who were murdered that spring means that strong stomachs and even stronger nerves are required, but the film demands to be seen by anyone attempting to grasp how -- and just how quickly -- genocide can occur. Read full review
91
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
In some ways the movie's straightforward style is more appropriate to the horror than a more souped-up approach would have been. With material this strong, sometimes the best thing a filmmaker can do is to stay out of the way. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKevin Crust
Tense and gut-wrenching, Beyond the Gates is a horrifying story told with grace and compassion. Read full review
90
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Critics have faulted this 2005 British feature about the Rwandan genocide for focusing on a couple of white characters instead of the 800,000 Tutsis who were slaughtered, but such easy judgments miss the point entirely: this is a spiritual drama, not a political one, drawing a thick line between our good intentions and the selfish choices we ultimately make. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
If Beyond the Gates were merely a well-intentioned bore, the reality might seem jarring. As is, the coda fits and feels like the only possible ending--proof that surviving to help tell the story of a genocidal nightmare is the best revenge. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
John Hurt is magnetic as a Catholic priest running a school where terrified Tutsi have taken refuge, while Hugh Dancy, as a naive teacher, represents white commitment to black Africa at its most impotent and unreliable. Read full review
83
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
A gripping, terrifying, profoundly touching human drama that's definitely worth seeing. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Hurt and Dancy are terrific in these roles, but the power of the movie is in the tension created by Caton-Jones on the same sites where this historical event unfolded. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubTasha Robinson
Hurt steals scenes with a brilliantly nuanced character, a man bitter enough to make every line delivered to his peers a challenge or an accusation, yet experienced enough to present those challenges with an ingratiating politesse that only cracks in extremis. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
Powerful and moving. Read full review
70
Washington PostDesson Thomson
The film may employ the well-worn tradition of filtering African stories through the experiences of Europeans, but they use the conceit for some penetrating revelations. Read full review
63
New York PostKyle Smith
The film is occasionally heavy-handed, and the priest character is almost absurdly saintly, but there is an awful power to scenes such as one in which the Europeans are evacuated on trucks. Read full review
More From This Movie

71 Critic Reviews

7.4 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 77 Project Hail Mary
2 75 Send Help
3 73 Hoppers
4 71 The Sheep Detectives
5 68 Crime 101
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL