Gimme Shelter

PG-13

Released Jan 24, 2014

1 hr. 40 min.

Drama

List

27%

77 Reviews

Tomatometer

63%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

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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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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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

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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

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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

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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

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Audience Member

Such a terrible movie! If you want to watch a whiny brat for 2 hrs, then I guess you'll enjoy it.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

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Ron Krauss

Director

Vanessa Hudgens

Agnes 'Apple' Bailey

Rosario Dawson

June Bailey

Brendan Fraser

Tom Fitzpatrick

James Earl Jones

Frank McCarthy

Ann Dowd

Kathy

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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

Michael Sragow

Orange County Register

The result is awkward, hyped propaganda for faith-based initiatives and against abortion.

Rated: C-

Jan 30, 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

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

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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
Executive Producer: Paul Hellerman, Scott Steindorff
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

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