Gimme Shelter
Roadside Attractions | Release Date: January 24, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
37
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
12
Negative:
12
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
ObserverRex ReedJan 24, 2014
It’s not for the squeamish, but thanks to a riveting central performance by Vanessa Hudgens and a compassionate screenplay by Ron Krauss, who also directed, this is a far more sobering and substantial exposé of homeless teenage girls on the dangerous edge of society than you might expect. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperJan 23, 2014
Writer-director Krauss embraces the spiritual elements of this story without turning it into a heavy-handed religious lecture. Read full review
70
Village VoiceAmy NicholsonJan 21, 2014
Though the arc of the film is as saccharine as a Precious Moments figurine — and it'll play that way for audiences who can't be bothered to look closer — Hudgens is too honest to believe in simple, happy endings. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comSheila O'MalleyJan 24, 2014
The film never says the words "pro-life" or "pro-choice." It genuinely seems to be about how the system has broken down entirely, and how sometimes it is up to privately funded charities to provide a light at the end of the tunnel. Read full review
63
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanJan 23, 2014
Gimme Shelter has a lighter touch than you might think. Yet there are times when its attempts at wringing drama out of real life are more strenuous than is strictly necessary. Read full review
58
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallJan 24, 2014
Gimme Shelter exists less as a social lesson than as a wobbly showcase for Hudgens' still-developing skills. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyJan 23, 2014
Gimme Shelter, a ripped-from-real-life story of a pregnant teen's journey toward hope, is filled with very good intentions, very bad dialogue and a surprisingly affecting turn by its star Vanessa Hudgens. Read full review
50
Boston GlobePeter KeoughJan 23, 2014
Gimme Shelter is sometimes moving and inspiring, but you have to wonder: Though Kathy and her movement give teenagers shelter, do they give them a life? Read full review
50
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsJan 23, 2014
Although it’s superficially grungy, this true story isn’t much more substantive than something that star Vanessa Hudgens might have made for the Disney Channel and considerably less shocking than her career gambit in “Spring Breakers.” Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleJan 23, 2014
Gimme Shelter is an attempt at something grand, and though it doesn't get halfway there, it covers some ground. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldConnie OgleJan 23, 2014
As a film, though, Gimme Shelter is unremarkable, a predictable story of redemption that happens awfully fast, to a girl who only seems to be in peril briefly — and has a rich dad to bail her out. Read full review
50
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreJan 23, 2014
It’s the sort of movie whose finale leaves you wondering, “Why do they always leave out what happens next?” Read full review
50
Arizona RepublicRandy CordovaJan 23, 2014
Most of the time, it simply coasts along at the level of a typical Lifetime TV movie. Read full review
42
Portland OregonianMarc MohanJan 23, 2014
It's the sort of movie that would have starred Valerie Bertinelli or Kristy McNichol back in the 1980s, tricked out with PG-13 grittiness and religious wholesomeness. It's the sort of story that ignores unpleasant social implications in favor of programmed sentiment. Read full review
42
Film.comKate ErblandJan 21, 2014
For all of Krauss’ clearly good intentions, the film still falls staggeringly flat, even with the inclusion of a bold and unexpected performance from Vanessa Hudgens, doing her damndest to break out of the Disney mold and turn in actual work here. Read full review
40
VarietyRonnie ScheibJan 24, 2014
The film is hamstrung by its fidelity to real-life inspirational models. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenJan 23, 2014
The story unfolds in large part through awkward contrivance. Read full review
38
Rolling StonePeter TraversJan 23, 2014
Propaganda is a bitch to act. And this misguided movie leaves Hudgens buried in it. Read full review
38
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsJan 23, 2014
Gimme Shelter suffers from an acute case of the fakes. The speeches sound like speeches, and not good ones. Read full review
33
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyJan 26, 2014
There’s nothing wrong with social-cause filmmaking, and the movie’s chief problem is less its political talking points than the corny way it tries to impart them. Read full review
30
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriJan 24, 2014
Whatever its politics, Gimme Shelter fails on multiple levels. Read full review
30
The New York TimesA.O. ScottJan 23, 2014
The film is more of a pageant than a convincing drama. It’s so determined to deliver its moral that it loses its grip on the reality of its characters. Read full review
30
The DissolveKeith PhippsJan 23, 2014
Though light on drama, Apple’s scenes at the shelter are easily the best part of the film, among the few moments when Gimme Shelter decides to show the effect of faith and charity rather than simply preach it. Read full review
25
New York PostSara StewartJan 24, 2014
A clunky movie that feels as if it’s underwritten by the Roman Catholic Church. Read full review
25
USA TodayScott BowlesJan 23, 2014
Preachy, manipulative and emotionally barren. Read full review
20
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanJan 24, 2014
From an artistic perspective, Ron Krauss’ heavy-handed drama, Gimme Shelter, fails almost entirely. But if the director set out to combine the stilted falsity of 1980s after-school specials with leaden political dogma, he’s certainly achieved his goals. Read full review
20
Austin ChronicleLouis BlackJan 22, 2014
Yearning to be a tale of familial abuse and social oppression finally overcome by personal triumphant transcendence through community and love, the film is instead the plainest of generic pop songs. Read full review
12
Philadelphia InquirerTirdad DerakhshaniJan 24, 2014
A happy-smiley Christian fairy tale disguised as a hard-hitting shard of social realism. Read full review
0
Slant MagazineR. Kurt OsenlundJan 22, 2014
Writer-director Ron Krauss's Gimme Shelter is wretched long before its odious ulterior motives come to light. Read full review
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