Rustin
Netflix | Release Date: November 3, 2023 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
68
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 39 Critic Reviews
Positive:
28
Mixed:
11
Negative:
0
Watch Now
Stream On

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
EmpireJohn NugentNov 27, 2023
This welcome spotlight on a lesser-known civil rights hero doesn’t escape the usual biopic clichés — but Colman Domingo’s impressive, deeply layered performance does this corner of history justice. Read full review
60
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeNov 20, 2023
This is more of a dutiful plod through the facts than the kind of film that makes history come alive. Read full review
60
CNNBrian LowryNov 17, 2023
Despite a glittering pedigree, the result is an earnest film deficient in the inspirational qualities of its subject matter. Read full review
60
Screen RantPatrice WitherspoonSep 15, 2023
It may not be the best biopic ever told, but people will certainly walk away from Rustin more educated, inspired to be the change they want to see in the world, and grateful that movies like this are willing to tell the truth about buried history. Read full review
60
The GuardianBenjamin LeeSep 12, 2023
It’s when the script leans into the story’s specificities that the film is at its most compelling – when intersectionality causes ruptures within the group, when we see civil rights giants fail to understand the hypocrisy of their homophobic bigotry, how Rustin manages his queerness in public and in private – and these moments help to provide depth to some of the flatness that’s in the more standard-issue scenes. Read full review
58
IndieWireDavid EhrlichSep 6, 2023
We can appreciate the righteous good of putting something like “Rustin” into the world at the same time as we lament how sorely the film lacks its namesake’s inspirational flair for defying convention. Read full review
54
Paste MagazineJesse HassengerNov 8, 2023
Exploring the mechanics of this epochal event is a great idea, led by a memorable performance from Domingo, that somehow still manages to render the protest march as flat and lifeless as any obligatory TV-movie checklist. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriNov 17, 2023
All in all, one walks away from Rustin enchanted with Domingo’s performance, while feeling that a character as larger than life and momentous as Bayard Rustin surely deserves a film less dutiful and more inspired. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comPeyton RobinsonNov 3, 2023
Rustin was undoubtedly made in admiration of its subject. Yet, with a stale approach to its plotline and confused narrative priorities, the film is more like an educational outline than a spirited story. Read full review
50
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanNov 1, 2023
The movie never exactly loses sight of Bayard Rustin, but neither does it ever let us get inside his heart. Read full review
50
The PlaylistGregory EllwoodSep 6, 2023
The film’s saving grace, as you’d expect, is Domingo. He conveys Ruskin’s inherent natural charisma so perfectly that no one will finish watching this film and wonder how such a flamboyant man became such a powerful figure in this homophobic era. Domingo’s performance makes you believe. Read full review
More From This Movie

68 Critic Reviews

tbd 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