What You Gonna Do When the World's on Fire?
Kimstim Films | Release Date: August 16, 2019 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
68
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
5
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The New York TimesBen KenigsbergAug 15, 2019
The movie unfolds impressionistically. To call it a portrait of collective resilience is accurate, but that description shortchanges its richness on both human and historical scales. Read full review
100
CineVueJohn BleasdaleSep 15, 2018
The vision of the black American experience might be grim, but it is never miserablist or despairing. The songs, the traditions, the love and the community are still there, even if the world seems to be undeniably on fire. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesCarlos AguilarSep 5, 2019
Solemn in tone and indispensable in significance, the latest from an artist with a track record for surveying marginalized Americans is structured like a collage of incendiary and heart-wrenching moments that toe dip into social justice issues without staying long with any one idea. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubBeatrice LoayzaAug 14, 2019
Minervini is not at his most provocative in What You Gonna Do When The World’s On Fire? That’s a good thing. Read full review
80
Screen DailyLee MarshallSep 15, 2018
Shot with grace and sensitivity in black and white using available and natural light, What You Gonna Do is a visual treat, the easiest on the eye of all the director’s films to date. It is also, for all its unevenness, a stirring, committed portrait of black lives at a crossroads in the American South. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comTomris LafflyAug 16, 2019
In the end, What You Gonna Do When the World’s on Fire? feels less like a complete piece, and more like the start of something searching for its perfect form without an ideal end in sight. Considering the country’s current political landscape, it seems fitting. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineChuck BowenAug 14, 2019
The film is beautiful and occasionally quite moving, but its subject matter deserves more than art-house irresolution. Read full review
60
VarietyJay WeissbergSep 15, 2018
While always attractive, the look conveys a level of non-spontaneous construction that often takes away from the potency of hard, brutal reality. Read full review
58
The Film StageEthan VestbySep 15, 2018
One’s pulse is not raised much during the two-hour runtime. This is especially disappointing from a director who has made sure to capture parts of America no other filmmakers seem to want to touch with a ten-foot pole. Read full review
58
IndieWireBen CrollSep 15, 2018
What You Gonna Do When the World’s on Fire? is hardly a disappointment, but it does, in places, feel like a missed opportunity. Read full review
50
TheWrapCandice FrederickAug 15, 2019
It’s the most unproductive type of sociopolitical film, especially in today’s climate, in that it aims to incite but not to motivate. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneySep 15, 2018
This is in many ways a frustrating film, its commitment admirable but its execution chaotic. Read full review
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