Stonewall
Stonewall

Stonewall

2015Movie129 minEnglish

Kicked out by his parents, a gay teenager leaves small-town Indiana for New York's Greenwich Village, where growing discrimination against the gay community leads to riots on June 28, 1969.

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Insights

IMDb5.8/10
Rotten Tomatoes8%
Metacritic29/100
Google Users39%
Director: Roland EmmerichGenres: Drama, History

Plot Summary

In 1969 New York City, a young runaway named Matt discovers a vibrant and defiant community of LGBTQ+ individuals struggling for acceptance. He finds himself drawn into their fight for civil rights, culminating in the pivotal Stonewall Uprising. The film follows his journey of self-discovery and his role in this historic moment.

Critical Reception

Stonewall received largely negative reviews from critics, who criticized its historical inaccuracies, shallow character development, and a script that was seen as pandering and exploitative. While some acknowledged the importance of the events depicted, the execution was widely considered a failure.

What Reviewers Say

  • The film is criticized for its historical liberties and anachronisms.
  • Character development is considered superficial, failing to engage audiences.
  • The portrayal of the events is seen as melodramatic and lacking authenticity.

Google audience: Audience reviews generally reflect the critical consensus, with many users expressing disappointment with the film's historical inaccuracies and its perceived trivialization of the Stonewall Riots. Some viewers felt it failed to honor the bravery of the real-life participants.

Fun Fact

Director Roland Emmerich, who is openly gay, stated that he wanted to make the film to shed light on a pivotal moment in LGBTQ+ history that he felt was not widely understood, though the film itself faced significant backlash for its narrative choices.

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My Review

TMDB Reviews

1 reviews
CinemaSerf

CinemaSerf

I think Roland Emmerich’s mistake here was tying this story so specifically to Stonewall. Had he just left it as an Armistead Maupin, “Tales of the City”, type of structured drama then it might have worked more convincingly. It centres arou...