Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence
HULU | Release Date: February 9, 2023
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
83
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 8 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
0
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
The New YorkerInkoo KangMar 2, 2023
Season 1 Review: A remarkable work, advancing the prestige true-crime genre’s slow but steady reorientation toward centering survivors. ... Still, I can’t help feeling a lingering discomfort about “Stolen Youth” and its rather harrowing depictions of Ray’s violence. Read full review
90
VarietyDaniel D'AddarioFeb 9, 2023
Season 1 Review: With a startling rawness and directness, Heinzerling’s work makes a case for itself as an unusually sensitive and strong outing in its genre. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperFeb 8, 2023
Season 1 Review: This is an admittedly tough watch, heartbreakingly so at time[s]. ... It’s also a journalistically sound effort, and thanks in large part to the victims who bravely agreed to extensive interviews, it could be of great help to others who find themselves or loved ones in similar situations. Read full review
80
The New York TimesMike HaleFeb 22, 2023
Season 1 Review: Across its more than three hours — its final episode clocks in at 74 minutes — it has some of the weight and a fair degree of the artfulness of the shows that kicked off the true-crime boom. Read full review
80
CNNBrian LowryFeb 9, 2023
Season 1 Review: Luckily for the producers, Larry Ray recorded many of those sessions, resulting in a three-part show that’s at times uncomfortably raw, and thus (for those who can stomach it) extremely watchable. Read full review
80
DeciderKayla CobbFeb 9, 2023
Season 1 Review: Stolen Youth isn’t just an informative look at a shocking case. It’s a well-made docuseries that’s always respectful to these survivors. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJohn AndersonFeb 7, 2023
Season 1 Review: "Stolen Youth" gets tricky—and absorbing and salutary—and becomes something other than the regurgitation of the sordid, sensational and expansively scandalous. At a time when playing the victim is au courant, what distinguishes the interviews with Ray's targets is their chagrin, shame and wonderment, even now. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyKristen BaldwinFeb 6, 2023
Season 1 Review: Documentaries about cults are never breezy affairs, but Stolen Youth is a particularly tough watch. ... What keeps Stolen Youth from being unbearably grim is its final hour, "Larryland," which follows Isabella Pollack, and Felicia and Yalitza in the aftermath of Ray's 2020 arrest. Read full review
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