Critic Reviews

• J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader

  Chicago indie Stephen Cone took a quantum leap forward with this moving 2011 drama about a Christian youth group in small-town South Carolina.

• Stephen Holden, New York Times

  "The Wise Kids" is a guileless exploration of the growing pains of sheltered innocents whose reticence and sincerity evoke 1950s small-town values.

• Melissa Anderson, Village Voice

  [Flaws are] ultimately overshadowed by Cone's excellent young actors, particularly Torem, burrowing deeply into her character's zealotry and anguish about being left behind.

• Robert Koehler, Variety

  Cone's feature is among the best of a recent spate of dramas observing American Christian life.

• Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

  Honest, observant, and subtle.

• James Plath, Movie Metropolis

  Religion may permeate this film, but it does so because it permeates the characters' lives. "The Wise Kids" features some nice surprises and some solid acting and editing.

• David Noh, Film Journal International

  Wonderfully intelligent coming-of-age story, filled with resonant questions of faith and done with a rare subtlety which honors the audience.

• Diego Costa, Slant Magazine

  Hovering over the narrative is the fear of the domino effect that change can enact, the dread that one person's "queerness" may perhaps expose everyone else's.

• John Beifuss, Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

  A smart, generous and believable coming-of-age feature; even the comedy is the comedy of recognition, rather than belittlement.

Read all 9 critic reviews