Pariah

Name: Pariah
Genre: Drama
Released: December 28, 2011
Duration: 86 min
Rating: 79

2011

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 34 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 25 Ratings

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6.4

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6.4	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 25 Ratings

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Pariah

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Movie Details & Credits

Focus Features | Release Date: December 28, 2011 | R

Summary: Adepero Oduye, who had earlier starred in the short film, portrays Alike (pronounced ah-lee-kay), a 17-year-old African-American woman who lives with her parents Audrey and Arthur and younger sister Sharonda in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene neighborhood. She has a flair for poetry, and is a good student at her local high school.
Alike is quietlyAdepero Oduye, who had earlier starred in the short film, portrays Alike (pronounced ah-lee-kay), a 17-year-old African-American woman who lives with her parents Audrey and Arthur and younger sister Sharonda in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene neighborhood. She has a flair for poetry, and is a good student at her local high school.
Alike is quietly but firmly embracing her identity as a lesbian. With the sometimes boisterous support of her best friend, out lesbian Laura, Alike is especially eager to find a girlfriend. At home, her parents’ marriage is strained and there is further tension in the household whenever Alike’s development becomes a topic of discussion. Pressed by her mother into making the acquaintance of a colleague’s daughter, Bina, Alike finds Bina to be unexpectedly refreshing to socialize with. Wondering how much she can confide in her family, Alike strives to get through adolescence with grace, humor, and tenacity – sometimes succeeding, sometimes not, but always moving forward. (Focus Features)… Expand

Director: Dee Rees

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: R

Runtime: 86 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Ann Hornaday

Jan 6, 2012

This invigoratingly fresh, optimistic film - which features the breathtaking debuts of director Dee Rees and leading lady Adepero Oduye - plunges the audience into a world that's both tough and tender, vivid and grim, drenched in poetry and music and pain and discovery. Read full review

Ella Taylor

Dec 30, 2011

The movie is anything but combative. Pariah is a tender, sporadically goofy, yet candid examination of emergent identity, a film whose lack of attitude sets it apart from much of the hard-bitten, thug-life storytelling that's dominated African-American cinema for decades. Read full review

Michael Phillips

Jan 5, 2012

The payoffs here begin and end with Oduye, and as we see this character confront her obstacles with bravery, grace and resolve, "Pariah" exhibits many of the same traits, for which filmgoers can be thankful. Read full review

Betsy Sharkey

Dec 28, 2011

At its soulful heart, Pariah is a stinging street-smart story of an African American teen's struggle to come of age and come out - to the father who still calls her "daddy's little girl" and the mother who quotes the Bible and buys her pink frills. Read full review

Wesley Morris

Jan 5, 2012

This is a movie that feels in all its vividness, specificity, and honesty - and in its amateurish screenwriting, too - like something found from the early- to mid-1990s, when American independent moviemaking encouraged far more conversations about the sexuality of young, brown girls in movies like "Just Another Girl on the I.R.T.'' and "I Like It Like That.'' Read full review

Mary Pols

Dec 29, 2011

Pariah should be a special, important film for gay teens and their parents. Read full review

David Fear

Dec 20, 2011

Establishing character, conflict and environment with astounding economy in the film's first ten minutes, Rees demonstrates the sort of filmmaking chops and personal storytelling (the director claims she drew on her own coming-out experience) that suggests the low-key epiphanies of Amerindie cinema at its best. Read full review

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User Reviews

jdicksteihn

Apr 21, 2012

Every character seems ripped out of real life. None of them do the things that movie characters are supposed to do. And it adds up to a very authentic feeling story, that makes its point without ever forcing the issue, or resorting to sentimentality. Loved this movie.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

Bikerjames

Jan 22, 2012

Adepero Oduye is wonderful as Alike, and the rest of the cast is wonderful as well. A good coming out story. You would think that gays and lesbians would be accepted by their parents in this day and age, but we are apparently still a long way off. This movie has been done before manyAdepero Oduye is wonderful as Alike, and the rest of the cast is wonderful as well. A good coming out story. You would think that gays and lesbians would be accepted by their parents in this day and age, but we are apparently still a long way off. This movie has been done before many times with gay males, it was refreshing to see the lesbian version from a black family of intelligent, yet dysfunctional people. Although it is mostly drama, there are humorous scenes as well.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

allmovies

Jan 2, 2012

Adepero Oduye portrays Alike (pronounced ah-lee-kay), a 17-year-old African-American woman who lives with her parents Audrey and Arthur (Kim Wayans and Charles Parnell) and younger sister Sharonda (Sahra Mellesse) in Brooklyn's Fort Greene neighborhood. Alike is quietly but firmly embracingAdepero Oduye portrays Alike (pronounced ah-lee-kay), a 17-year-old African-American woman who lives with her parents Audrey and Arthur (Kim Wayans and Charles Parnell) and younger sister Sharonda (Sahra Mellesse) in Brooklyn's Fort Greene neighborhood. Alike is quietly but firmly embracing her identity as a lesbian. With the sometimes boisterous support of her best friend, out lesbian Laura (Pernell Walker), Alike is especially eager to find a girlfriend. At home, her parents' marriage is strained and there is further tension in the household whenever Alike's development becomes a topic of discussion. Pressed by her mother into making the acquaintance of a colleague's daughter, Bina (Aasha Davis), Alike finds Bina to be unexpectedly refreshing to socialize with. Wondering how much she can confide in her family, Alike strives to get through adolescence with grace, humor, and tenacity - sometimes succeeding, sometimes not, but always moving forward.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

JLuis_001

Feb 27, 2020

Kinda weird to see this powerful coming of age story like Dee Rees debut after the mess she delivered in ''The Last Thing He Wanted''

I'm gonna have to see her other two films to see if she wasn't just a momentary success.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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