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Gimme Shelter

Play trailer Poster for Gimme Shelter PG-13 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 02/06/2014
1.5/5
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. Go to Full Review
Ben Sachs Chicago Reader 01/30/2014
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. Go to Full Review
Christy Lemire ChristyLemire.com 01/27/2014
1.5/4
An after-school special blown up on the big screen, it stridently aims to inspire you. More likely, it'll make you cringe. Go to Full Review
Robert Sims Lights Camera Austin 01/22/2022
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. Go to Full Review
Debbie Lynn Elias Behind The Lens 01/08/2020
A solid piece of filmmaking. Strong emotional performance by [Vanessa] Hudgens. Go to Full Review
Nicholas Bell IONCINEMA.com 08/29/2019
2/5
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. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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06/22/2024 Mixed feelings. It was an emotional plot that didn’t have any dramatic turns. See more Krista M 01/26/2024 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. See more 12/03/2023 This was a really good movie. I wish more movies were made that really meant something important and valuable, like this one. See more Kyle M 10/22/2022 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-) See more Daniel G 08/19/2022 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. See more 11/02/2021 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. See more Read all reviews
Gimme Shelter

My Rating

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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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