The story is sometimes overwritten, often overwrought, includes an overheard conversation on the "Nancy Drew" level, and yet holds our attention and contains surprises right until the end.
An apt follow-up to the two Matthew Shepard-themed movies that aired on TV in 2002.
50
Village Voice
Village Voice
When Hate Crime confounds expectations, it transcends the whodunit-of-the-week template. On the other hand, when the plot gets lost in irrational revenge fantasies, you'll wish you had stayed home watching reruns.
50
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Stovall's film could have been a little shorter and a lot tighter.
40
Chicago Reader
Chicago Reader
This melodrama by writer-director Tommy Stovall has a good premise, but he undercuts it with contrived plot twists, pedestrian pacing, and mostly two-dimensional characters.
40
Film Threat
Film Threat
It sadly really never lives up to the potential and excellence it's really capable of.
With a little more subtlety - and a lot less predictability - the movie might have played more like a thoughtful drama and less like an outrageous exercise in wish fulfillment.
40
The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck
The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck
A well-meaning but hopelessly stilted melodrama, Hate Crime sacrifices good intentions with its mediocrity of execution.
40
L.A. WeeklyErnest Hardy
L.A. WeeklyErnest Hardy
The road to moviegoing hell is paved with well-intentioned queer cinema, and Hate Crime is a red stone on that path.