94
Metascore
28 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Screen DailyDavid D'ArcyScreen DailyDavid D'ArcyIt’s raw religion, and it’s a treasure.
- 100TheWrapDan CallahanTheWrapDan CallahanAmazing Grace is a movie worth seeing and re-seeing and re-seeing again, a testament to the Queen of Soul at the height of her powers, live, in full color, in rich sound, resplendent.
- 100New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriNew York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriThe result was one of the most acclaimed albums of her career — and one of the most elusive film projects of all time, full of twists and turns that would have made Orson Welles order a stiff drink.
- 100VarietyOwen GleibermanVarietyOwen GleibermanThe effect is ecstatic; she sounds like the holiest of trumpets, with every note piercingly bright yet as soft as velvet. Listening to Franklin, you feel like you could ride that voice into the heavens. She’s not just a singer, she’s a human chariot.
- 100RogerEbert.comOdie HendersonRogerEbert.comOdie HendersonThis film is a powerful love letter to the Black Church, offering a soul-shaking introduction for the unfamiliar and a grandmotherly yank of the arm for those who know—it drags you from the theater straight into the pews.
- 100Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangLos Angeles TimesJustin ChangAretha Franklin didn’t transcend the gospel or gospel music; as first her album and now this marvelous documentary remind us, she did more than most to fulfill its potential for truth and beauty, devotion and art.
- 100The New York TimesWesley MorrisThe New York TimesWesley MorrisYou get both the most lovely gaze a professional camera’s ever laid upon Aretha Franklin and some of the mightiest singing she’s ever laid on you. The woman practically eulogizes herself. Don’t bother with tissues. Bring a towel.
- 88Slant MagazineChuck BowenSlant MagazineChuck BowenIt offers a profound glimpse of one of the greatest and most influential voices in modern music.
- 83IndieWireEric KohnIndieWireEric KohnAmazing Grace is soulful ear candy. But Franklin’s sweaty, impassioned delivery, which galvanizes her audiences with an electric charge, extends her awe-inspiring musical convictions beyond religious euphoria. It’s a rousing portrait of creativity as a unifying force.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeAmazing Grace will not enter the pantheon of concert films — it's somewhat shapeless as a movie, and gives little sense of emotional insight into the performer. But it does contain moments of bliss: As astonishing as the sound of Franklin's singing in 1972 remains, watching her do it is even better.