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Gimme Shelter

Play trailer Poster for Gimme Shelter PG-13 Released Jan 24, 2014 1h 40m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
27% Tomatometer 75 Reviews 63% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
A pregnant teen (Vanessa Hudgens) learns to break the bonds of her past and embrace her future after taking refuge at a shelter for homeless youths.
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Gimme Shelter

Gimme Shelter

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Critics Consensus

In spite of its obvious good intentions -- and the compelling true story that inspired it -- the heavy-handed Gimme Shelter can't overcome its cliche-riddled script.

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Critics Reviews

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Keith Phipps The Dissolve There's a whole [other] film to be made [...]-one driven less by hysterics and villainous mother figures, and more by examples of how charity and compassion can turn dead ends into doorways-but Gimme Shelter doesn't seem to want to make it. Rated: 1.5/5 Feb 6, 2014 Full Review Ben Sachs Chicago Reader What remains is a poor man's Precious, with all the earlier film's go-for-broke melodrama but none of its weirdness or empathy for the impoverished. Jan 30, 2014 Full Review Christy Lemire ChristyLemire.com An after-school special blown up on the big screen, it stridently aims to inspire you. More likely, it'll make you cringe. Rated: 1.5/4 Jan 27, 2014 Full Review Robert Sims Lights Camera Austin If anything can be taken away from this seemingly anti-abortion drama, it's that Vanessa Hudgens is doing an admirable job of distancing herself from her Disney Channel roots. Jan 22, 2022 Full Review Debbie Lynn Elias Behind The Lens A solid piece of filmmaking. Strong emotional performance by [Vanessa] Hudgens. Jan 8, 2020 Full Review Nicholas Bell IONCINEMA.com Even as co-stars and narratives turn to mush around her, Hudgens is a driving force, and so it is that Gimme Shelter is extremely worthwhile to see for her work here, especially if you've not seen some of her similarly themed roles. Rated: 2/5 Aug 29, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (238) audience reviews
Audience Member Mixed feelings. It was an emotional plot that didn’t have any dramatic turns. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 06/22/24 Full Review Krista M This movie was so bad that it finally compelled me to create a Rotten Tomatoes account after lurking for nearly 15 years. This movie is about the struggles of poverty and abuse, written through the lens of someone who is clearly privileged and have never experienced much of either. The stereotypes are constant and outlandish. At times my jaw was on the floor, at other times I was laughing in disbelief. At best this is a really bad movie. At worst it sends the message that children with zero life skills & resources whose only knowledge of parenting is abuse, can have babies just because they feel emotionally attached to an ultrasound image. God I hated this movie. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 01/26/24 Full Review Audience Member This was a really good movie. I wish more movies were made that really meant something important and valuable, like this one. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/03/23 Full Review Kyle M It may benefit from Vanessa Hudgens's serious attempt in connective gravitas along with being part of exceptional casting collectively under a rare occasion, the biographical picture doesn't divulge much on either the characters or the surrounding themes except just plainly addressing the issues. The first half's an expositional showcase for both without much resonating depth probably due to focusing on the other half's buildup becoming elliptical and contextually coerced, but it doesn't deter the involved talents' commitments with the given material. (B-) Rated 3 out of 5 stars 10/22/22 Full Review Daniel G Apparently I disagree with most critics on this one - I felt very involved by the story and though I thought maybe Vanessa Hudgens did try a bit too hard to act, I transported myself to her particular life challenge. At one point I started getting a bit impatient, but overall it was an attention-getting film with characters whom I cared about. Also, though obviously there is religiosity involved, it didn't seem to me that there was this preaching that only as Christians would there be no abortion and such shelters. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 08/19/22 Full Review Audience Member Vanessa, Rosario, Brendan, James Earl, all played excellent roles and as usual their acting was great. I really enjoyed the compassion, anger, frustration, strength, and grit in this movie, it really was a hidden gem I somehow missed, but.... WARNING: SPOILER ALERT BELOW!! The ending sucked. If this is based on a true story, and the main character had a chance at giving her daughter what she never got, a real home and family to raise her daughter with, and instead after all of the grief and anguish she went through her whole life, decided to go with a shelter home and a bunch of strangers, that is just sad. In my opinion she was an idiot, and I wish the director had changed the story and given her what her daughter deserved, a decent upbringing. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/18/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Gimme Shelter

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Movie Info

Synopsis A pregnant teen (Vanessa Hudgens) learns to break the bonds of her past and embrace her future after taking refuge at a shelter for homeless youths.
Director
Ron Krauss
Producer
Ron Krauss, Jeff Rice
Screenwriter
Ron Krauss
Distributor
Roadside Attractions
Production Co
Day 28 Films, Rishon Films
Rating
PG-13 (Language|All Involving Teens|Violence|Mature Thematic Material|Mistreatment|Some Drug Content)
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jan 24, 2014, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 21, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA)
$1.4M
Runtime
1h 40m
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