Bama Rush

2023

1 hr. 41 min.

Documentary

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List

89%

9 Reviews

Tomatometer

13%

250+ Ratings

Audience Score

In August 2021, the long-held tradition of sorority recruitment at the University of Alabama, also known as rush, went viral on TikTok. Becoming a viral sensation and cultural phenomenon using the hash tag “Bama Rush,” to date more than 2 billion people have watched. In the upcoming feature documentary BAMA RUSH, Fleit follows four young women as they prepare to rush at the university in 2022. In this documentary, Fleit explores the emotional complexities and stakes of belonging in this crucial window into womanhood.

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Aron J

The director-EP interjecting herself into the film is jarring, distracting, and ruins any attempt at the underlying cohesiveness. If she wanted to make a film about alopecia, she should that & not wasted the viewers time with this end result, which should have been on interesting take on Rush.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

01/30/24

Full Review

Tracey Q

I wish I could give 0 stars. The trailer was incredibly misleading and throughout the film you found out nothing interesting about Greek life and focused far too long on the director's personal struggles in life and her unsuccessful attempt to relate the two. I've literally never written a review on here before, but I am so annoyed for wasting the last hour of a half of my life watching this so I felt compelled to warn others.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

01/07/24

Full Review

Robert C

Teaser doc about sorority recruitment at U of A made a mountain out of a molehill. And, I'm not a fan of the Greek system.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

12/27/23

Full Review

Jessa H

Even though I may not have been in the heart of #BamaRushTok when it was popular in August of 2021, I still heard about it. I occasionally came across some of the popular videos that were trending, but I did not think much of it. I knew that Greek Life culture at the big southern schools was intense and having gone through the process myself at a smaller southern school, I did not really give the hype of it a second thought. That was until I found out that HBO Max (now Max) was going to be doing a documentary on it. The online rumors that surrounded this was that they were going to be planting girls as Potential New Members (PMNs for short) and get all of the secrets that goes on behind recruitment. As much as I would love to see it from the inside of another school, I did not think this would be the case. But everyone else on the internet did, and you can tell it definitely impacted what the documentary wanted to do towards the end, but I think its message still came across. One of the most interesting things about this documentary was that the director put herself into the picture. She was not just a figure asking questions in the background; there were parts when she was front and center talking about some of her experiences. Fleit has the condition alopecia, where your body attacks the hair follicles making it so you are not able to grow hair. As a woman, this can be an especially hard condition to have. A lot of the criticism that has come for the documentary makes the point that Fleit seems to insert herself more than is needed. I really liked this choice of filmmaking as it brought the more behind-the-scenes crew to the forefront and focus on why they wanted to make the documentary. Now, people have complained saying that Fleit's alopecia as it was her personal story to tell and had no purpose in being in a documentary about sorority recruitment. I actually liked this aspect of the documentary, as the director is bringing in her personal story to go along with why some of the recruits go through sorority recruitment in the first place – a sense of belonging. Growing up as a young woman, you are always judged by the way you look before anything else. Not having hair is not normal for your average woman, so growing up with that kind of condition is not an easy task. The message that came across to me is that girls who are PMNs are trying to find their place on campus – it is a new school and they may know little to no one – so having that support system is crucial. When you feel accepted and a part of something, you have a better chance of thriving in your future. This is why I think Fleit decided to talk about her personal journey and struggle with her hair; she just wanted to find a place of acceptance just like PMNs. The main issue that took me out of the documentary was that they tried to touch upon so many different topics that surround Alabama Greek Life that it felt like I was just reading a Cliff Notes version of the actual events. There is so much that goes behind the specific life of being in a fraternity and sorority at the University of Alabama specifically, and the documentary wants to talk about each of them. However, a lot of the interesting things about The Machine or how racism was heavily involved until recent years when they have attempted to desegregate their Greek Life. That was all of the information I was most looking forward to learning more about as it involves things that I have heard rumors about online. This is where I think the documentary would have benefited more from being a docuseries. We could have had the overall through line of wanting to be accepted still there but have each episode focus on a major topic. One could focus on The Machine and how they tried to run the entirety of the Student Government at Alabama, leading into potential political futures for the candidates they were campaigning. Another could focus on the racist history of Greek Life at Alabama while shining a bigger light on the historically Black fraternities and sororities on campus (called The Divine Nine). There could also be one focusing on the PNMs going through the training with the rush coordinators and how much time and effort goes into the rush process. But because it was restrained to an under two hour documentary, a lot of the interesting ideas were lost in the final product. With a good message that could have been executed better, "Bama Rush" is an interesting look at how girls find comfort in sororities because they need to find a sense of belonging, but the documentary tries to also include University of Alabama-specific components that do not go anywhere. Overall, just pretty average with entertaining bits here and there.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

12/07/23

Full Review

Sophie S

This is the worst documentary I've seen in a long while. Complete waste of time, I learned nothing about Rush, or sororities, or the university. I learned more about the Director's personal feelings about her own alopecia, which means she should make a vlog, not documentary films. It's a bummer that so much money went into such a shallow production and is mostly about the director. You should reconsider being a journalist since you can neither contextualize a story nor produce an interesting subplot. Thank you for wasting my time.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

11/04/23

Full Review

m t

I made an account just to review this documentary. "Bama Rush" may be the most banal and disappointing documentary I've ever seen. It centers around the most stale, immature, and status-obsessed bunch of people I've ever seen. It spends it's time building up the implications of the effects of social media as well as constructing a vile enemy vis a vis the not-so-secret fraternal order known simply as "The Machine" with absolutely no payoff. While it was mildly touching to see the girls realize how unimportant being in a sorority is, I have to give this a HUGE thumbs down.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

10/31/23

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Rachel Fleit

Director

Andrew Freston

Producer

Danny Gabai

Producer

Zachary Luke Kislevitz

Producer

Rachel Fleit

Executive Producer

Lizzie Fox

Executive Producer

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Bama Rush: Trailer 1

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Noel Murray

Los Angeles Times

There’s a lot about the whole sorority phenomenon that could never fit within the narrow rectangle of a cellphone app. So Bama Rush widens the frame.

May 26, 2023

Full Review

Nick Schager

The Daily Beast

What it reveals is an exclusionary environment that views beauty, wealth, privilege, and conformity as the highest of ideals—and which seems, in some cases, to exacerbate the very problems these young women believe it will solve.

May 17, 2023

Full Review

Dustin Rowles

Pajiba

I’m not sure that I would call Bama Rush a great documentary, but it is an unwelcome reminder of how superficially brutal Greek life can be.

Aug 31, 2023

Full Review

Farah Cheded

A Good Movie To Watch

You might come to Bama Rush looking for a scandalous exposé of Greek life, but the profound insight these young women bring to the film turns it into something much more compelling.

Rated: 68/100

Jul 27, 2023

Full Review

Stephen Silver

Splice Today

Manages to make something boring out of what should be a fascinating subject, thanks to a meandering focus, mere lip service paid to serious and weighty subject

Rated: 2/5

Jun 16, 2023

Full Review

Jennifer Green

Common Sense Media

Ultimately, this film feels very unsettling. There's a major lack of self-confidence on display, and the idea that there's a cottage industry of rush coaches will come as a surprise to many viewers.

May 31, 2023

Full Review

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Synopsis

In August 2021, the long-held tradition of sorority recruitment at the University of Alabama, also known as rush, went viral on TikTok. Becoming a viral sensation and cultural phenomenon using the hash tag “Bama Rush,” to date more than 2 billion people have watched. In the upcoming feature documentary BAMA RUSH, Fleit follows four young women as they prepare to rush at the university in 2022. In this documentary, Fleit explores the emotional complexities and stakes of belonging in this crucial window into womanhood.

Director: Rachel Fleit
Executive Producer: Rachel Fleit, Lizzie Fox, Caser Meurer, Kama Kaina
Distributor: Max
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): May 23, 2023

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