4 Little Girls

Released Jul 9, 1997

1h 42m

Documentary

List

100%

Tomatometer

27 Reviews

89%

Audience Score

5,000+ Ratings

On Sunday, September 15, 1963, the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, was bombed by four members of a Ku Klux Klan-affiliated racist group. Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley, four African-American girls between the ages of 11 and 14 who had been attending the church's Sunday school, were killed in the blast. Director Spike Lee's somber 1997 documentary tells the story through new interviews and archival footage.

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Critics Consensus

4 Little Girls finds Spike Lee moving into documentary filmmaking with his signature style intact -- and all the palpable fury the subject requires.

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John Leonard

New York Magazine/Vulture

Only a filmmaker so resourceful, so entirely confident in his practiced craft, could have made such a quilt out of patches of nightmare and nostalgia -- of gospels, ghosts, and grief.

Feb 1, 2018

Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

There isn't an ounce of flab or hype, and the story it tells is profoundly affecting.

Sep 22, 2008

Full Review

Todd McCarthy

Variety

A compelling, straightforward account of a deeply sorrowful and pivotal event in the civil rights movement.

May 16, 2008

Full Review

Thrillist Entertainment Staff

Thrillist

4 Little Girls is a masterpiece that needs to be seen and remembered.

Nov 28, 2018

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Rob Nelson

City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul

Spike Lee has launched another perfectly timed counteroffensive: a calmly wrenching mix of oral history and period newsreels.

Aug 20, 2009

Full Review

Film4

It's presented with Lee's usual intelligence and clarity as he skilfully mixes politics with moving reminders of the lives it affects.

Sep 22, 2008

Full Review

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Audience Member

All dol respect to the victims - of this senseless act of cowardice, but it really was a snooze. I understand that there needs to be time given to talk about the family members and so on, but I really could not keep myself engaged while all of that was going on. I do know that in '97 things weren't 100% what they are now in TV but still, all the reasons in the world wouldn't make this interesting and God knows there is a lot to dive into with a church bombing.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Watched this tonight on what is the 57th anniversary of the Birmingham church bombing. Excellent documentary with interviews of the families affected by this senseless terrorist act. There is a clip with Bill Cosby being interviewed though that I'll bet Spike wishes he could take back.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/20/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Spike takes us on an incredible journey! We all know what happened. But by the time he weaves us in and out of their lives and paints the backdrop of the social climate they lived in, we are completely entrenched. When the event unfolds in the film, these are our four little cousins, our four sisters, or the four girls who live next door. Our hearts and minds are completely invested. As. They. Should. Be.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/14/23

Full Review

Audience Member

It was a very heartfelt movie i found out alot of truths

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Spike Lee's documentary about the 1963 bombing of a church in BIrmingham, Alabama that killed 4 young girls is an appropriately quiet and direct telling of the events leading up to the tragedy and it's aftermath. Lee interviews family, friends and other witnesses and largely lets their words speak for themselves. He briefly uses morgue photos of the 4 girls to hammer home exactly what a senseless act like this does. It's a frustrating and infuriating film and it should be. It's one of his better films of the last 30 years.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I wasn't a huge fan of the music - it was a little distracting at times. However, the movie was very powerful.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/28/23

Full Review

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Director

Maxine McNair

Self

Helen Pegues

Self

Harold McNair

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Sheila Nevins

Executive Producer

Sam Pollard

Producer

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Synopsis

On Sunday, September 15, 1963, the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, was bombed by four members of a Ku Klux Klan-affiliated racist group. Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley, four African-American girls between the ages of 11 and 14 who had been attending the church's Sunday school, were killed in the blast. Director Spike Lee's somber 1997 documentary tells the story through new interviews and archival footage.

Director: Spike Lee
Producer: Sam Pollard
Distributor: Direct Cinema Limited
Production Co: 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, Home Box Office (HBO)
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 9, 1997, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 1, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $130.1K
Runtime: 1h 42m
Sound Mix: Dolby, Surround

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