74
Metascore
33 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 88ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliThe purpose of Bully is to educate and promote discussion. If the problem is not solved, there will be more Columbines and additional stories like Tyler and Ty's.
- 83Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanAs long as the MPAA is issuing its cavalier decrees, though, they're the ones acting like bullies.
- 80VarietyRonnie ScheibVarietyRonnie ScheibLee Hirsch's "The Bully Project" serves as a call to action against abuse of students by their peers as it follows, over the course of a year, five sobering case histories of unrelenting schoolyard persecution.
- 70New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinNew York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinBully is repetitive and not especially artful, but children who allow themselves to see the world through the eyes of the film's victims will never be the same.
- 70The New YorkerDavid DenbyThe New YorkerDavid DenbyLee Hirsch and Cynthia Lowen, the filmmakers who made the moving documentary Bully, don't try to answer any questions. They avoid charts and graphs, talking heads and sociology. Their approach is more direct and, perhaps, more effective.
- 70Village VoiceVillage VoiceIt has a clear and calm approach to storytelling and some interest in the quality of its handheld images.
- 67The A.V. ClubSam AdamsThe A.V. ClubSam AdamsThere are many appalling moments witnessed and described in Lee Hirsch's documentary Bully: children beaten and humiliated, ostracized by their peers and misunderstood by their parents, left to face an apparently heartless world without a soul to turn to.
- 60Time OutDavid FearTime OutDavid FearThis antibullying advocacy group could not be more well-intentioned or needed, but suddenly, the sneaking suspicion that you've merely been watching an extended PSA for the grassroots organization starts to take hold.
- 50Slant MagazineSlant MagazineLeaves us moved by poignant scenes of victims' shattered lives, but, for reasons unclear, keeps the bullies themselves largely out of our reach.