Riotsville, U.S.A.
Magnolia Pictures | Release Date: September 16, 2022 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
82
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 18 Critic Reviews
Positive:
17
Mixed:
0
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
The Film StageShayna WarnerAug 25, 2022
Guided by stark intertitles and a poetic narration written by scholar Tobi Haslett, the film takes a micro and macro view of the ‘60s as a flashpoint for blatant disregard of American––especially impoverished Black American––social needs. Read full review
91
IndieWireSusannah GruderAug 25, 2022
[A] transfixing and troubling archival documentary. Read full review
90
VoxAlissa WilkinsonSep 30, 2022
The film shows the birth of the militarization of police in America. Read full review
90
Film ThreatRay LoboSep 17, 2022
Riotsville, U.S.A. brilliantly uses the aesthetic of its archival footage to not only place us in a historical era but also to inform, to critique state power. Read full review
90
The New York TimesGlenn KennySep 15, 2022
This is not an objective film. It is a polemic, a work of activism, a challenge to the viewer. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterLovia GyarkyeAug 30, 2022
All elements of this arresting documentary work together to push an urgent thesis: What we are attuned to hearing, to seeing and to thinking about the U.S. and what the country can and cannot afford to do is by design. It’s better to realize that now before it’s too late. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleSarah JaneOct 13, 2022
Riotsville, USA is a definitely worth your time and attention. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comOdie HendersonSep 16, 2022
Riotsville, U.S.A. is certainly not an objective documentary. It’s angry and it dares the viewer to argue back. The freeform nature of it may seem faulty, but I felt it served the purpose of forcing me to interrogate what I was being shown. Read full review
88
ObserverOliver JonesSep 14, 2022
An equally dreamlike and urgent act of radical archiving, Sierra Pettengill’s Riotsville, USA traces the origin of America’s militarized dismantling of social justice movements to a specific time and place. Read full review
85
TheWrapRonda Racha PenriceSep 15, 2022
In bold contrast to the flashier, more emotionally-charged documentaries of late, Riotsville, USA takes an approach more reminiscent of the PBS of old, or even C-SPAN, in the trust it places in the footage to tell the story. Read full review
80
Little White LiesCaitlin QuinlanApr 2, 2023
Haslett writes that the riotsvilles were the places, “where the state assembles its fears.” Pettengill’s film is an invigorating indictment of these constructed falsehoods – their fears, their riotsvilles, their scapegoats and their reasons for destruction. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawMar 29, 2023
A shiver of disquiet runs right through it. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesNoel MurraySep 27, 2022
By letting the archival material carry most of the weight, Pettengill creates an instructive kind of time-travel experience for viewers of all political persuasions, transporting them to a past hauntingly similar to our present. Read full review
80
Screen DailyTim GriersonAug 30, 2022
Although Sierra Pettengill’s film will perhaps be most notable for its inclusion of startling scenes from Riotsvilles, model towns built by the US Army to train for actual riots, there’s much here to consider about the American worship of law enforcement and demonisation of dissent. Read full review
80
SlashfilmChris EvangelistaAug 25, 2022
Again and again, the bleak truth is driven home: this is the society America built. One where helpful solutions are ignored as unrealistic, and violent action reigns supreme. Riotsville is a dream; a nightmare. It's a movie backlot that doubles as a boot stomping on anyone who dares to dissent. Read full review
75
Washington PostMark JenkinsOct 6, 2022
Riotsville, USA is as much a meditation as it is a history lesson. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreSep 13, 2022
It’s a dry yet fascinating film that covers a lot of ground between the riots, the creation of the Riotsvilles and the convention where its training was unleashed on first Miami and Miami Beach, and later on Chicago. Read full review
25
The PlaylistWarren CantrellAug 25, 2022
Somewhat ironically, like the social unrest that underpins much of the footage featured in Riotsville, U.S.A., the documentary is well-intentioned yet hampered by a lack of direction, clearly defined goals, and the support of a larger, established apparatus to lend it legitimacy. Read full review
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