Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple
Seventh Art Releasing | Release Date: October 20, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
79
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
19
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen Johnson
One of the year's most important documentaries, a real must-see. Read full review
91
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
A riveting and impeccably researched documentary. Read full review
90
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
I can't imagine anyone not being both horrified and fascinated by Stanley Nelson's Jonestown: The Life and Death of People's Temple. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
This calm and thorough film has just the right attitude and tone to deal with a most incendiary story. Read full review
88
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Nelson's film eschews sensationalism, and knowing how the story ends in no way diminishes its visceral impact. Read full review
88
New York PostKyle Smith
Five people did escape, and they contribute their stories to the spellbinding documentary. Read full review
88
PremiereAaron Hillis
A conventional but genuinely heartrending exposé of the Indiana boy who grew to be a powerful religious cult leader, director Stanley Nelson's thoroughly researched doc is not a posthumous character assassination, which would be all too easy and unnecessary. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
While Jonestown lacks the power of revelation, it's a first-rate piece of journalism, as fascinating and thorough as any magazine article. Read full review
80
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Nelson has fashioned a compelling movie around an unfathomable mystery. To see Jones's face, eyes hidden behind trademark aviator shades, is to experience the last shock in Psycho. His is the blank stare of living death. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterSheri Linden
Through interviews with Jonestown survivors and rare footage of Jones himself, this sober documentary presents an unforgettable historical portrait. Read full review
80
The New York TimesStephen Holden
As this powerful, minutely documented film reveals, the tragedy wasn’t caused by the failure of the Peoples Temple to realize its goals. In many ways, it was succeeding as a self-sufficient community. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
An excellent documentary by MacArthur fellow Stanley Nelson (The Murder of Emmett Till), offers no grand theories for the Jonestown phenomenon. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Meticulously researched documentary. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
Chilling doesn't begin to describe Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple...But the film never gets behind the chill. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Harrowing and inexorable, the film recaptures the progressive insanity of Jim Jones and the hundreds of worshipers in his thrall, and it certainly gives you willies to last for days. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerBill White
Stanley Nelson's documentary shows how a religion becomes a cult, and how people are deceived by an ideal. Read full review
70
Film ThreatPhil Hall
Provides lethal evidence of what becomes of those who deposit their sincerity into the command of a religious lunatic. Read full review
70
VarietyRonnie Scheib
PBS-bound docu constitutes a revealing look at a poorly understood chapter in American history. Read full review
70
Washington PostStephen Hunter
It would be nice to report that director Stanley Nelson comes up with something new, some illumination, some revelation, some heretofore unglimpsed irony, but he doesn't. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
The Peoples Temple congregation was sizably African-American. But when it comes to how those followers turned into a zombie Kool-Aid death cult, Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple leaves you with more questions than you went in with. Read full review
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