New Orleans Times-Picayune by Mike Scott

Songs such as "We Shall Overcome," "Wade in the Water" and "This Little Light of Mine" are powerful to begin with. Listening to them, music-video-style, over footage shot during the era, however, elevates them.

Washington Post by Ann Hornaday

Through vivid archival material and voice-overs, the filmmakers create moving vignettes that, taken together, form a fascinating primer on nonviolence as a political force and discipline.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by Jennie Punter

With young audiences definitely in mind, the film puts a fresh spin on the issues and struggles of the civil-rights movement.

The New York Times by Mike Hale

It’s the kind of film that will have audiences clapping and singing along. And why not? The images and stories may be familiar, but it’s history worth retelling.

Boston Globe by Mark Feeney

The music is the occasion, and it’s stirring. What linger, though, are the images — and the ideals and emotions they convey.

New York Post by Kyle Smith

The film is primarily interested in the music that accompanied this turmoil, which is a bit like covering the American Revolution with the focus on the wigs Washington and Jefferson wore.

Village Voice by Aaron Hillis

More often than not, these musical interludes are more like distractions aimed only to entice younger audiences (not a terrible thing).

The Hollywood Reporter by Frank Scheck

Perhaps best suited for younger audiences, who will be more receptive to a vital history lesson only if it's given a music video-style treatment.

Time Out by David Fear

Even if you’ve seen this footage of the sit-ins at Southern diners, the Selma-to-Montgomery marches and Martin Luther King Jr.’s funeral before, you can’t help but be moved to your core.