YMMV / The Birth of a Nation (2016)

• Overshadowed by Controversy: In between the movie's premiere at Sundance and its official release in theaters, some word started circulating about a 1999 rape case that Nate Parker and Jean Celestin (Parker's co-writer on the film) had been accused and later acquitted of while attending college at Penn State (with the alleged victim having recently committed suicide at the time). Coming on the heels of complaints about the movie's version of Nat Turner being partly motivated by a rape that probably never happened in reality only made things worse. Both Parker and Fox Searchlight commented on where they stood with the controversy.
• So Okay, It's Average: Putting aside all the hubbub over the film's creation and Nate Parker's past, this was the major critical reaction to the film — that it did little that 12 Years a Slave didn't do better while also being hampered by some very awkward edits, which was a result of the original version being severely cut down.

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