Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight manages the difficult trick of getting us to care for the Fullers while saving our sympathy for the Zimbabweans.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 30, 2025

Director Davidtz is both astute by focusing on the country’s warped reality and perhaps too cautious when fleshing up the characters...Regardless, as directorial debuts go, this is a strong, assured start.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 29, 2025

Davidtz' powerful, personal adaptation of Fuller's memoir memorably captures a young girl's coming-of-age amid civil war and political upheaval.

Full Review | Jul 23, 2025

Embeth Davidtz makes a confident directorial ebut delving into the roots of generational racism told through the eyes of a confident young performer in Lexi Venter

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 23, 2025

Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight sets Embeth Davidtz as a director to watch.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Jul 23, 2025

It doesn't handle the shifts in tone well. Tough to watch

Full Review | Jul 23, 2025

This is a tremendous directorial debut in every way.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jul 21, 2025

Here, we see a child looking at her world through tiny windows, a breach in a wall or a fence, or the bush itself, taking her measure from semi-clandestine vantage points... A masterpiece.

Full Review | Jul 21, 2025

Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight” is a solid movie, but it is ninety-eight minutes of watching child neglect and may leave people unfamiliar with the accents or historical context more confused or leaving with the wrong impression.

Full Review | Jul 20, 2025

Black-and-white photos of the real Fuller clan accompany the closing credits to add more visible resonance to a project that marks the talented Davidtz as a filmmaker to respect now and, if we are lucky, to root for again later.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jul 19, 2025

Davidtz coaxes a remarkable turn from child actor Venter. She makes Bobo seem forever in the moment, a spirit strong enough to endure trials she’s probably fortunate to not yet fully grasp.

Full Review | Jul 18, 2025

Davidtz proves more than capable behind the camera, showing impressive restraint with many of the potentially overwrought moments.

Full Review | Jul 18, 2025

"Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight" is aware of its colonialist perspective, and tries to use the limitations of that perspective to its advantage.

Full Review | Jul 18, 2025

A sad reminder of the evils of colonialism and how racists are created; its plain and out in the open and 7-year-old Bobo may become one of them.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Jul 18, 2025

Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight attempts to be noble and equitable in its approach, but is held back through its narrowed down point of view and perspective.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/10 | Jul 18, 2025

It’s an atmospheric and involving period piece.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 18, 2025

[A] clear-eyed portrait of a family’s struggle to cope with their own domestic troubles and their country’s revolutionary transformation, marked by a brilliant performance from young Venter.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Jul 17, 2025

A powerful portrait of colonialism seen through the eyes of a child, in this case Bobo (Lexi Venter), seven-year-old child of white Rhodesian farmers during the civil war in what is now Zimbabwe.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Jul 17, 2025

A story like this could come across as condescending or didactic, but even in moments when it's potentially problematic, Venter's wonderful, wide-eyed performance keeps the narrative grounded.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 17, 2025

This doesn’t just establish Embeth Davidtz as an exciting new filmmaker, it also marks the introduction of 7-year-old Lexi Venter, a talent so innately gifted she’s rightfully drawing comparisons to legendary child stars Jodie Foster and Anna Paquin.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Jul 16, 2025