Rabbit Proof Fence 2002

Critics score:
88 / 100

Reviews provided by RottenTomatoes

Glenn Lovell, San Jose Mercury News: Noyce has worked wonders with the material. Read more

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: This is a heartfelt story ... it just isn't a very involving one. Read more

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: One of the best movies of the year. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Sampi rarely faces the camera; her gaze eludes us, but her strength and willfulness jump off the screen. Read more

Susan Stark, Detroit News: Noyce creates a film of near-hypnotic physical beauty even as he tells a story as horrifying as any in the heart-breakingly extensive annals of white-on-black racism. Read more

Robert K. Elder, Chicago Tribune: All of Rabbit-Proof Fence's characters are so well-drawn, so human -- that even in the harsh light of history -- it remains difficult to understand how Australia allowed such inhumanity to become institutional, mechanized and accepted. Read more

Stephen Holden, New York Times: Its portrait of people who see themselves as decent, self-righteously trying to eradicate another culture, has the impact of a swift, hard slap in the face. Read more

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: The movie may sound like a yawn: Three girls walk through wind and rain and scrub brush to get back where they belong. But it's not. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: Essentially, Noyce just wants to tell a good story, which he does. Read more

Manohla Dargis, Los Angeles Times: Serves as unassailable proof of Noyce's good intentions, even if as a political statement it's at once over- and under-cooked, with little memorable dialogue and neither enough moral or political nuance. Read more

Houston Chronicle: Read more

Michael Booth, Denver Post: [Director Phillip] Noyce shows their awful, eventually uplifting journey without flinching, and the arid Australian wilderness is a co-star of the film. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: Noyce lets the landscape and the untrained young actresses own the screen. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: An extraordinary story is reduced to a predictable, heart-tugging issue-movie- of-the-week. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: Rabbit-Proof Fence will probably make you angry. But it will just as likely make you weep, and it will do so in a way that doesn't make you feel like a sucker. Read more

Ella Taylor, L.A. Weekly: A stirring road movie. Read more

Newsday: Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: One of 2002's most memorable imports. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: This journey, which evokes some of the same mystery of the outback evoked in many other Australian films (notably Walkabout), is beautiful, harrowing and sometimes heartbreaking. Read more

Jonathan Curiel, San Francisco Chronicle: Nearly everything about Rabbit-Proof Fence is astonishing. Read more

Jeff Strickler, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Read more

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: A movie of adventure, courage and spirit, revealing the best and worst in human nature and introducing terrific new talent. Read more

Geoff Andrew, Time Out: Read more

Mike Clark, USA Today: Never stirs the soul as much as it might. Read more

Michael Atkinson, Village Voice: A dusty, calloused, primal Odyssey, as forceful and single-minded as a bullet train. Read more