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Jesus CampMovie Reviews

Poster art for "Jesus Camp."
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Metascore®62 out of 100 | Generally favorable reviews

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
    Chicago Tribune | Jessica Reaves

    What Ewing and Grady have accomplished here is remarkable--capturing the visceral humanity, desire and unflagging political will of a religious movement. Read full review

  • 75
    ReelViews | James Berardinelli

    Jesus Camp is not a "hatchet job." The filmmakers did not go in with an anti-Christian agenda and use selective editing to prove their point. 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

  • 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

  • 58
    The Onion (A.V. Club) | Keith Phipps

    Why do Ewing and Grady feel the need to tip their hand by underscoring it all with creepy ambient music or by using Air America host Mike Papantonio as a Greek Chorus expressing the voice of reason? 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

  • 30
    Village Voice | Rob Nelson

    The doc these kids would make with flea market camcorders couldn't possibly be as ugly as this absurdly hypocritical critique of the far right's role in escalating the culture war. The classier indoctrination to which Gap-shopping urban Democrats subject their kids might look damn spooky, too, but it probably wouldn't sell. Read full review

Avg. Fan Rating:
Average Rating = 2.7 out of 5