The Book of Clarence

"Aspirational, unique, moving, funny, weird, and very shaggy."

"Samuel filters a well-worn genre through a Black lens, and has a great deal of fun doing so."

"Samuel’s wacky counter-gospel action adventure delivers some good turns but drifts into piety."

"Stanfield... is a charismatic lead."

"Biblical cinema could use more messengers with Samuel’s eccentricity and daring."

"Tonally erratic, but absolutely interesting, at the very least."

"If the ending is disappointingly conventional... what comes before brims with boldness."

"Careens through tones and sentiment, silly in one and then horrific in another."

"Lord is it fun, in a way church and Hollywood’s biblical epics almost never are."

"There’s a good deal of laid-back fun and a rousing sense of inclusion in all its sacrilege."

"There’s a fine line between subverting the genre and rendering it incomprehensible."

"The results are entertaining, sometimes riotously so, yet also decidedly mixed."

"Does it work? I’d say no, and sort of, and in the end, almost."

"A grab bag of ideas and genres that sometimes hit their mark."

"What’s good about (it) is what so many movies lack: taking really, really big swings."

"Has a lot to offer but is weighed down by its tonal irregularities."

"I was ultimately left confused and dissatisfied."

"There’s nothing else like The Book of Clarence, for better and worse."

"Brims with Samuel’s signature flourishes."