Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution
Netflix | Release Date (Streaming): March 25, 2020 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
86
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
29
Mixed:
0
Negative:
0
Watch Now
Stream On

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternMar 26, 2020
The film, newly streaming on Netflix, pulls together disparate strands of an untold saga into something thrillingly new. Read full review
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperMar 26, 2020
Directors LeBrecht and Newnham do a nimble job of threading the stories of a number of campers into a compelling narrative, deftly moving back and forth from the newsreel-style footage from the 1970s and the interviews and life updates on the campers many decades later. Read full review
100
Original-CinLiam LaceyMar 24, 2020
It's always presumptuous to refer to a slice of history as "little known" simply because you didn't know about it, but it's probably safe to say that Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution — a rousing look at disability rights — will tell a new story to a lot of people. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyStaff (Not credited)Mar 26, 2020
Camp, like last year's "American Factory," is a Netflix project with the not-inconsiderable heft of executive producers Barack and Michelle Obama behind it, which will undoubtedly earn it some extra attention. That's great if it helps the film, though it's clear who the real heroes are here: a group of kids that society consistently marginalized, mistreated, and ignored, until they fought their own way off of the sidelines and into the world. Read full review
90
The VergeJoshua RiveraApr 3, 2020
Calling Crip Camp a feel-good movie feels contrary to its purpose, even as it is tremendously inspiring. It’s more of a reminder that something that seems impossible can be done; it just takes an immense, downright unfair amount of work to will it into existence and support from others who may not be impacted but benefit from a more equitable society because everyone does. Read full review
90
PolygonKaren HanMar 27, 2020
By focusing on specific individuals and the shared starting ground of Camp Jened, the filmmakers find a concrete thread to follow rather than getting lost in how much history there is to cover. More importantly, they bring a personal, empathetic touch to the story that makes it feel immediate, relatable, and like a call to further action. Read full review
90
CNNBrian LowryMar 26, 2020
The film is alternately funny and heartwarming, but more than anything, eye opening, covering a chapter at best underreported in history books, if not outright overlooked. Read full review
90
Rolling StonePeter TraversMar 25, 2020
Using their voices for demonstrations and protests, they helped pass 1990’s revolutionary Americans With Disabilities Act. This documentary proves that they are still changing the world. Read full review
90
The New York TimesBen KenigsbergMar 24, 2020
Newnham and LeBrecht deftly juggle a large cast of characters past and present, accomplishing the not-so-easy task of making all the personalities distinct, and a build a fair amount of suspense in their nearly day-by-day account of the sit-in. Read full review
90
TheWrapRobert AbeleMar 23, 2020
Thanks to Crip Camp, we can all get a window into how a struggle is unified, people are emboldened, and differences are made. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterDaniel FienbergJan 25, 2020
What's most remarkable is how the primitive video footage balances the aspects of Jened that were unique — you've never seen a baseball game or swimming instruction like this — with moments that are hilarious and universal. Read full review
90
Film ThreatNorman GidneyJan 25, 2020
Newnham and LeBrecht weave a narrative from multiple archival sources that capture the innocence, the subtle awakening, and ultimate determination of a small group of disenfranchised who suddenly realized that there was something to fight for. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesMar 25, 2020
It’s thrilling. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoMar 25, 2020
Expertly editing together moving interviews with its subjects with archival material, Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution becomes a commentary on how to change the world. It’s not just common human decency that should lead to equality for disabled people, but the truth that empowerment for everyone is the only path to true progress for anyone. Read full review
88
Movie NationRoger MooreMar 24, 2020
In these, America’s darkest days since the Vietnam War, Crip Camp is an inspiring, upbeat shaft of light and a sobering reminder that whatever conservatives want to say about the ’60s, every now and then, hippies changed America, and helped America change the world. Read full review
88
The Associated PressLindsey BahrMar 24, 2020
It’s a worthy story even without the coda of the fight for their civil rights. You never know where empowerment might stem from: Sometimes, it’s a hippie camp in the Catskills. Read full review
83
The PlaylistMarshall ShafferMar 26, 2020
Crip Camp indulges a fair number of documentary clichés: the talking heads, the emotional reunion, and the inspirational montage, to name a few. But it’s hard to feel bothered with a film that tells an urgent, overlooked story so compassionately and clearly. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinMar 27, 2020
An inspirational civil rights documentary that sounds as if it’s going to be Good for You rather than good, but it actually turns out to be both — as well as surprising, which is surprising in itself, given that inspirational civil rights documentaries tend to be more alike than unalike. Read full review
80
Vanity FairRichard LawsonMar 26, 2020
The film is sturdy, galvanizing, the sort of movie that might help rouse people out of despair and into the good fight. The spirit of revolution—righteously angry yet full of bonhomie, demanding but generous in its reach—is alive and well in the film. As, one hopes, it is everywhere else. Read full review
80
TimeStephanie ZacharekMar 26, 2020
As co-director LeBrecht, himself a Jened attendee, puts it in the film, “This camp changed the world, and nobody knows this story.” Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangMar 24, 2020
More than most real-life stories about marginalized individuals overcoming daunting odds and deep-seated prejudices, “Crip Camp” manages to be at once sweetly affirming and breezily irreverent. Read full review
80
The GuardianBenjamin LeeMar 24, 2020
It’s as involving as it is necessary, a rare ray of sunshine on yet another cloudy day. Read full review
80
Screen DailyFionnuala HalliganJan 25, 2020
Footage is surprising, and, occasionally heart-breaking; not because of the disabilities onscreen, but because it recalls the idealism of the 1970s, long since gone. Read full review
80
VarietyPeter DebrugeJan 25, 2020
The movie succeeds in enlightening without ever coming across as an “eat your spinach” civics lesson. Read full review
75
Boston GlobePeter KeoughMar 30, 2020
The experience of watching Crip Camp might inspire you to reexamine your attitudes about disabled people and how society treats them. Though occasionally sentimental and preachy, it is an essential reminder of a civil-rights struggle that many have forgotten and a cause that has yet to be fully achieved. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubKatie RifeMar 26, 2020
Fitting for a film backed by the groovy sounds of the Grateful Dead and Bob Dylan, the biggest myth Crip Camp is out to bust is that disabled people aren’t sexual beings. Read full review
75
IndieWireEric KohnJan 25, 2020
Crip Camp proves some success stories only grow more powerful with age, and their ability to inspire action is timeless. Read full review
75
The Film StageJordan RaupJan 25, 2020
Crip Camp is both an inspiring historical document of a grass-roots movement but also an urgent call to action for those on the sidelines of ongoing political and societal battles. Read full review
70
VoxAlissa WilkinsonJan 25, 2020
Crip Camp is buoyant and inspiring, a tale of people working together through difficulty and opposition to change the world. Read full review
More From This Movie

86 Critic Reviews

7.3 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL