Pariah Reviews
Top CriticThe movie's point, which is impossible to miss, is that it's hard being black & gay in America and, while there's undoubtedly truth in that sentiment, it doesn't necessarily make for a compelling motion picture circa 2011.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2.5/4
It's impossible not to root for Lee to assert her identity and to fulfill her dreams, but neither she nor the rest of the characters have any existence outside the script's exhortations.
7M Pictures
Like Albert Nobbs, Pariah deals with issues of identity and sexuality, though in a vastly different way.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2.5/5
Mark Reviews Movies
Every dramatic beat feels preordained, and it's simply because Rees ... is more concerned with situations than characters.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2/4
Rees brings a heartfelt connection to the material, based on her own coming-out story, but the film's ingredients aren't the freshest.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2/4
We Got This Covered
Pariah tells an involving story that's both deftly relatable and urgently progressive.
Full Review
| Original Score: 10/10
Movies.com
Director and writer Dee Rees, along with a phenomenal performance by Adepero Oduye, gives plenty of points of access for audiences to identify with Alike, and the result is rewarding, rich and universally important.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
New York Press
Ultimately, Pariah chronicles pain and beauty in the birth of an artist. The film's only real pariahs are those who reject her.
DCist
The intensity of these performances, and their gorgeous rendering on film by cinematographer Bradford Young, carry a film that could easily have sunk into Sundance-indie inspirational cliché.
Full Review
| Original Score: 7.9/10
Metro Times (Detroit, MI)
It is a striking debut: visually rich, emotionally complex and graced by strong performances from top to bottom.
Full Review
| Original Score: B+
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
...evades the formula for coming-of-age films as it announces the arrival of a fascinating new star in the remarkable Adepero Oduye.
Full Review
| Original Score: 88/100
The film is an impressive debut for writer-director Dee Rees.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3.5/4
Pariah is a tender, sporadically goofy, yet candid examination of emergent identity.
A moving story that's told with intelligence, heart and a working knowledge of the real world we live in.
Rees packs a lot into a simple narrative, and only rarely overpacks.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3.5/4
The originality lies in the details, and the dramatic energy that sustains almost every scene.
Vivid photography, true-to-life moments and a wonderful lead performance compensate for some first-timer missteps in debutante writer-director Dee Rees' Pariah.
OK! Magazine
Pariah sets a new standard for the coming-of-age genre.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3.5/4
Movie Dearest
Authentic and moving. Adepero Oduye gives a breakthrough performance in the lead role, and Kim Wayans is a revelation as Alike's conflicted mother. One of the five best GLBT-themed narrative films of 2011.
Full Review
| Original Score: A-
East Bay Express
Sets new standards for gay-lesbian coming-out play-acting with these "everyday people" rebel girls.
