74
Metascore
8 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlVillage VoiceAlan ScherstuhlRaising Bertie charts nothing less than what it’s like to try to grow up free in the prison capital of the world.
- 90Los Angeles TimesKimber MyersLos Angeles TimesKimber MyersThe film alternates between triumph and tragedy, but there’s never a moment that doesn’t feel intimate and authentic in its 96-minute running time.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenThe Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenThe experiences and challenges of the rural poor might make it into the national conversation as an abstraction, but rarely with the specificity of this intimate portrait of a black community.
- 75RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoRogerEbert.comBrian TallericoThere are times when Raising Bertie can seem a bit too unfocused, but it’s a project that always feels worthwhile for the opportunity it provides to expand an often-narrow view of the country.
- 75Chicago Sun-TimesMiriam Di NunzioChicago Sun-TimesMiriam Di NunzioIt’s a portrait of communities and families striving to do right by their kids, but where schools and lack of job programs fail to meet communities’ most desperate needs.
- 75San Francisco ChroniclePeter HartlaubSan Francisco ChroniclePeter HartlaubByrne is the furthest thing from being a manipulative filmmaker. But Raising Bertie is moving nonetheless.
- 70Paste MagazineDaniel SchindelPaste MagazineDaniel SchindelRaising Bertie is a moving chronicle, and a potent treatise on institutional failings that knows to demonstrate said problems instead of merely preaching them.
- 50Slant MagazineClayton DillardSlant MagazineClayton DillardThe documentary mistakes its access to quotidian behaviors as evidence of the need for comprehensive educational and financial reform.