Selah and The Spades
Amazon Studios | Release Date (Streaming): April 17, 2020 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
69
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
21
Mixed:
7
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
The Observer (UK)Mark KermodeApr 20, 2020
It’s tempting to view Selah and the Spades as a triumph of style over substance, richer in visual promise than thematic rewards. Yet there’s also something thrilling about Poe’s refusal to smooth the odd and potentially alienating edges off this very personal (and ultimately empowering) drama, suggesting a strength of creative purpose that will doubtless pay great dividends. Read full review
60
New York Magazine (Vulture)Alison WillmoreApr 20, 2020
Selah and the Spades ends just as it feels like it’s really picking up momentum, which is the major frustration of the film and also, likely, part of the reason it was picked up by Amazon both as a release and the basis for a possible series adaptation. Read full review
60
EmpireBeth WebbApr 17, 2020
Selah And The Spades showcases Simone’s star power and suggests a promising future for Poe, but ultimately fails to keep up the pace needed to make it the slick, cutting teen drama that it clearly wants to be. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawApr 16, 2020
For all its fantastical vein, this movie has an interesting grasp of what high school is really like – not a Hollywood narrative, neither funny nor tragic, and certainly nothing like that most unreal of genres, the coming-of-age drama. Rather it’s messy, downbeat and inconclusive, without teachable moments – like everything else in real life. Read full review
60
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternApr 16, 2020
The film is funny and astute on the boundless self-seriousness of adolescence, and a formidable start for Ms. Poe’s career. Here’s looking to her for the next one. Read full review
58
The PlaylistAsher LubertoApr 9, 2020
Emphasizing Selah’s discovery that cliques are kinda dumb and that her actions have consequences, Selah and the Spades loses momentum, despite a witty framing device that places characters as tiny figures in the school’s vast, empty rooms. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleApr 15, 2020
An interesting movie that doesn’t completely satisfy, but its central character lingers in the mind. Read full review
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