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The Devil Came on Horseback
Metascore
78 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 14 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 14
  3. Negative: 0 out of 14
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  1. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Steve Winn
    100
    An exceptionally powerful film driven by contradictory forces.
  2. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Duane Byrge
    90
    An unnervingly powerful picture of atrocity.
  3. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Manohla Dargis
    90
    Brutal, urgent, devastating -- the documentary The Devil Came on Horseback demands to be seen as soon as possible and by as many viewers as possible.
  4. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Phillips
    88
    It is not an easy film to watch, nor should it be. It is, however, beautifully made. Annie Sundberg and Ricki Stern, the co-directors, wrangle their information and lay it out clearly, vividly and with a sharp sense of focus.
  5. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Ty Burr
    88
    Too often the movies view the problems of Africa through Western eyes, but "Devil" turns that weakness to a literal strength, because Steidle could do nothing in his position except take photographs.
  6. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: Andy Spletzer
    83
    The first half of the movie is repetitive, and threatens to become more about Steidle than the conflict. The second half picks up considerably as we see him actively trying to alert the U.S. government to the atrocities.
  7. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Andrew O'Hehir
    80
    This shouldn't be a competitive sport or anything, but I'm pretty sure that Annie Sundberg and Ricki Stern's documentary The Devil Came on Horseback has the most horrifying images I have ever seen in a motion picture.
  8. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marrit Ingman
    78
    The film's approach suits an audience broader than the usual documentary crowd, though it's worth mentioning that those pictures can really stay with you.
  9. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Scott Tobias
    75
    These images and reports have stirred consciences without quite stirring decisive action, and an earnest indie doc like this one seems like another cry in the wilderness.
  10. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Rob Nelson
    70
    Ultimately, Devil ponders the optimism/pessimism = apathy/x equation as honestly and studiously as any doc I've ever seen.
  11. Variety
    Reviewed by: Robert Koehler
    70
    While the point of view of privileged, Anglo observers on African issues usually raises hackles, such is not the case with The Devil Came on Horseback, a tense account of former Marine Capt. Brian Steidle's witnessing of the genocide in Sudan's western province of Darfur.
  12. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Stephen Hunter
    70
    Incisive and possibly a bit melodramatic as it lays out the reasons and the results of the violent campaign and marshals indignation on behalf of the victims while crying out for Western engagement.
  13. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Joshua Katzman
    70
    Steidle had virtually unrestricted access to settlements that were under siege from the Janjaweed, Arabic mercenaries of the Sudanese government, and became the first person to photograph the annihilation.
  14. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Ken Fox
    63
    If you don't already have a handle on the complicated conflict at the heart of Darfur's ongoing genocide, you probably won't come away from this harrowing documentary with any comprehensive understanding.
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User Reviews

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User Score
7.5 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 6 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 4
  3. Negative: 1 out of 4
  1. GavinH.
    10
    Excellent....a real insight as to messed up the world is...and the bloke that said it was boring is a f****** narrow minded.
  2. ChadS.
    8
    The subject does refer to himself in the third person(and has a Ray Liotta-like laugh) early on in "The Devil Came on Horseback" as he recounts his prospects of being a paper jockey in an office, but when he cries on camera, we believe this Marine Captain. After all, genocide is something to cry about. Since the ex-Marine acts as our narrator, the story of Darfur is abridged by his limited knowledge. He knows the "when" and "where"; the external particulars of Khartoum's collaboration with the Janjaweed, but not the "why"; the historicism of African/Arab relations in the Sudanese region. "The Devil Came on Horseback" has a narrow scope. This doc is about one man's relationship to human tragedy. It's an indoctrination tool, a user-friendly film about a particular current event. What "The Devil Came on Horseback" lacks in insight, it more than makes up with the photographs that documents an innumerable amount of casual hate crimes against the Sudanese people. And sadly, "The Devil Came on Horseback" gives us one more reason to be embarrassed about our current administration.… Full Review »
  3. JaredC.
    0
    Boring, I hated it.
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