69
Metascore
29 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80Los Angeles TimesJen YamatoLos Angeles TimesJen YamatoAs a character study, Selah and the Spades is more than requiem for a mean girl. Think the stylistic snappiness of “Brick” meets the fastidious world-building of “Rushmore” with a fourth-wall-bending feminist perspective and two young black female leads, and you’ve got “Selah.”
- 80The New York TimesTeo BugbeeThe New York TimesTeo BugbeeSelah and the Spades shimmers with youthful promise, both in front of the camera and behind it.
- 79TheWrapSteve PondTheWrapSteve PondAt times the storytelling may make the story look and feel more interesting than it is, particularly in an ending that feels as if it rushes to find a bit of forced redemption. But Poe is an assured first-time director who has created a high-school movie that feels distinct from all the high-school movies that preceded it.
- 75Washington PostAnn HornadayWashington PostAnn HornadayWith its clean staging and coolly mannered style, Selah and the Spades reaches back to Wes Anderson, Whit Stillman and even Stanley Kubrick; this is a film in which nearly every image looks worked over and carefully polished, with no detail left unconsidered.
- 75Chicago TribuneKatie WalshChicago TribuneKatie WalshIt's arresting to behold, but it almost seems to run out of steam at a certain point. But for any of its story flaws, Selah and the Spades is so tonally and aesthetically indelible, it announces the arrival of an exciting new cinematic voice in Poe, and cements Lovie Simone as a bona fide movie star.
- 67The A.V. ClubKatie RifeThe A.V. ClubKatie RifeIf you took "Harry Potter," put it in a paper bag with "The Wire," and shook it vigorously, you’d get the basic idea behind Selah And The Spades — a film that, to its credit, is only partially defined by those two elements.
- 60Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternWall Street JournalJoe MorgensternThe film is funny and astute on the boundless self-seriousness of adolescence, and a formidable start for Ms. Poe’s career. Here’s looking to her for the next one.
- 58The PlaylistAsher LubertoThe PlaylistAsher LubertoEmphasizing Selah’s discovery that cliques are kinda dumb and that her actions have consequences, Selah and the Spades loses momentum, despite a witty framing device that places characters as tiny figures in the school’s vast, empty rooms.
- 50San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleSan Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleAn interesting movie that doesn’t completely satisfy, but its central character lingers in the mind.