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Pray the Devil Back to Hell
Metascore
78 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 15 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 15
  3. Negative: 0 out of 15
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  1. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Staff (Not credited)
    100
    This illuminating film by director Gini Reticker and producer Abigail Disney is a much-needed attempt to put the spotlight on a moment of history that still inspires, especially because that moment led to Taylor's exile and to Liberia's election of Africa's first female head of state.
  2. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: Peter Rainer
    91
    If 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.
  3. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Steven Rea
    88
    Pray the Devil Back to Hell is at once inspiring and horrific.
  4. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Owen Gleiberman
    83
    Gini 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.
  5. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Frank Scheck
    80
    Powerful enough to make even the most cynical believe in the ability of ordinary people to induce political change.
  6. NPR
    Reviewed by: Bob Mondello
    80
    Without 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.
  7. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kenneth Turan
    80
    One of the truly heartening international political stories of recent years.
  8. Variety
    Reviewed by: Ronnie Scheib
    80
    Gini Reticker's lucidly impassioned film, filled with strong, eloquent spokeswomen, garnered Tribeca's docu award.
  9. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: J.R. Jones
    80
    Fleet, gripping documentary.
  10. New York Post
    Reviewed by: V.A. Musetto
    75
    Gini 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.
  11. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Wesley Morris
    75
    The longer the film goes on, the more you crave a vaster history of modern Liberia, originally a colony founded by former slaves from the United States.
  12. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Noel Murray
    75
    Overly 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.
  13. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Tim Grierson
    70
    Reticker 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.
  14. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Manohla Dargis
    70
    Uplifting, 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.
  15. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Neely Tucker
    70
    "Peace is a process, not an event," one unnamed activist says toward the end. Amen, sister.
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User Reviews

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User Score
9.5 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 4 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 1
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1
  1. NicoDaFlagburna
    9
    The subject matter is heavy and reminded me how innocent people are abused and in desperate need of empowerment. There is so much factual content that any sense of creativity is pushed aside and the pictures you see are not only harrowing but hugely depressing. The inspirational women's movement provides an upbeat counterbalance to the human destruction and gives the film a reason to exist. My concern is that there seems to be a lack of historical references which could have increased the effect. Nevertheless the story needs to be told and there is no one better to lead the narrative than the Women's Liberation Movement. We must continue to give money to charities across the world. 93/100… Full Review »
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