78
Metascore
15 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 91Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerChristian Science MonitorPeter RainerIf this were a fictional Hollywood movie, it would be criticized for being too upbeat. But sometimes truth is not only stranger than fiction, it's also a whole lot better.
- 83Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanGini Reticker's simply made, affecting documentary Pray the Devil Back to Hell reveals how these heroic ordinary women prodded the factions to peace and literally brought down Taylor, a leader of sociopathic cruelty.
- 80VarietyRonnie ScheibVarietyRonnie ScheibGini Reticker's lucidly impassioned film, filled with strong, eloquent spokeswomen, garnered Tribeca's docu award.
- 80NPRBob MondelloNPRBob MondelloWithout their guns, the men prove surprisingly helpless. And when a representative of a larger pan-African community tells them that if they want the women to stop treating them like children, they must behave responsibly, you sense a corner has been turned.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckThe Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckPowerful enough to make even the most cynical believe in the ability of ordinary people to induce political change.
- 75New York PostV.A. MusettoNew York PostV.A. MusettoGini Reticker's embracing documentary Pray the Devil Back to Hell shows how Taylor got his comeuppance from a coalition of tenacious Christian and Muslim women armed only with matching T-shirts.
- 75The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe A.V. ClubNoel MurrayOverly conventional as a documentary, but it's inspiring as a rebuttal to the declining state of the world at large. It's encouraging to know that the endurance of institutions like marriage and family could hold the key to keeping civilization intact.
- 70Village VoiceVillage VoiceReticker offers perhaps a too-narrow focus on this historical moment, but Pray the Devil remembers the golden rule of moviemaking--rather than tell, it shows, and what it shows is quietly affecting.
- 70The New York TimesManohla DargisThe New York TimesManohla DargisUplifting, disheartening, inspiring, enraging -- the mind reels while watching the documentary Pray the Devil Back to Hell, even as the eyes water, the temples pound and the body trembles.
- 70Washington PostWashington Post"Peace is a process, not an event," one unnamed activist says toward the end. Amen, sister.