Jesus CampMovie Reviews

Poster art for "Jesus Camp."

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Avg. Critic Score: 62 out of 100 Generally favorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
14 Iffy for 14+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 83
    Entertainment Weekly | Scott Brown

    As a documentary, Jesus Camp could lose its haunted-house score and contrapuntal Air America refrains and still deliver its message: that, here and elsewhere, fundamentalism is no longer content with a separate peace. It wants the meat. Read full review

  • 75
    San Francisco Chronicle | Neva Chonin

    At heart, all documentaries aim to be important films. Few actually pull it off. Minor flaws and all, Jesus Camp is among the year's most important films, if only because it forces us to learn about an America we seldom see and seldom want to see. Read full review

  • 75
    Philadelphia Inquirer | Carrie Rickey

    Cinematic dynamite. Read full review

  • 70
    The New York Times | Stephen Holden

    Jesus Camp doesn't pretend to be a comprehensive survey of the charismatic-evangelical phenomenon. It offers no history or sociology and only scattered statistics about its growth. It analyzes the political agenda only glancingly, centering on abortion but not on homosexuality or other items. Read full review

  • 70
    Los Angeles Times | Kenneth Turan

    Whether you are a religious, churchgoing person or not, if you are the least bit liberal or tolerant in your world view, this has got to be one of the most unnerving films of the year. Read full review

  • 70
    The Hollywood Reporter | Sheri Linden

    A fascinating glimpse of kids' role in the evangelical movement's political agenda. Read full review

  • 63
    Boston Globe | Wesley Morris

    If we are in the midst of a culture war, as many people proclaim in Jesus Camp, then the left should be concerned. The right's Christian soldiers appear to be extremely well trained. Read full review

  • 60
    Washington Post | Ann Hornaday

    Often funny (just listen to Becky fulminate against Harry Potter), but it's also a scary. Read full review

  • 50
    Variety | Ronnie Scheib

    May shock many viewers, especially political liberals. Read full review

  • 30
    Wall Street Journal | Joe Morgenstern

    A snapshot, to be sure, but scattershot as well. Read full review

View more reviews for Jesus Camp on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 14+ Eye-opening look at the Evangelicals among us.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this documentary is an outsider's look at members of the Evangelical Christian church. While it shows a Christian radio deejay who opposes what the church stands for, it does it rather respectfully. Parents should be warned, however, that there are many scenes of kids caught up in religious fervor where they look very distressed and are crying, speaking in tongues, and professing to the group that they have sinned. There is also a scene where a right-to-life advocate hands out small infant figures to the kids, tapes their mouths shut, and encourages them to express their sadness and outrage. One child says that she thinks God only comes to a church like hers. One parent home-schools her child and explains why evolution is wrong. A family recites a revised version of the Pledge of Allegiance with many mentions of God, and at one church meeting a life-size cardboard cut-out of President Bush is brought to the stage and everyone is encouraged to pray over the president, and over more conservative Supreme Court nominees.
  • Families can talk about so many topics it's hard to know where to begin. If your kids like Harry Potter, they'll notice that the youth minister, Becky, speaks out against the books. Why do you think she does that? If your family is religious, you can discuss how you see worship in relation to the Christians shown here. Would you ever go to a camp with your family to feel closer to God? Why or why not? The Evangelicals here all support President Bush. What ideals do the Bush administration and the Evangelical church share? Do you think the non-Evangelicals making this film showed enough respect for their subjects? Do you think the subjects show the same level of tolerance for the filmmakers? Why do you think the subjects in this film allowed the filmmakers into their lives?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: The church members aren't all white, but they are openly exclusionary otherwise -- no alternative lifestyles allowed here, this religion is the "right" one, and evolution is wrong.
What to watch for
  • violence false3 Violence: Kids get distressed and cry in religious fervor. In one scene their mouths are covered in tape as part of a protest. A right-to-life advocate talks about how many children abortions have killed since Roe v. Wade.
  • sex false0 Sex: Not an issue
  • language false0 Language: People speak in tongues in a few scenes. Lots of judgmental and militaristic statements on both sides of the issue.
  • consumerism false3 Consumerism: Pepsi cups all over the camp. Whole industry related to religion; music, books, etc.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false0 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Not an issue
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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