Michael O'Keefe This is an interesting insight into part of the Amish way of life. Kudos to Lucy Walker for her frank and eye opening documentary. The Amish church began in about 1693 in Europe and most of that faith migrated to select areas of the U.S. in 1860. Amish children 16 to 21 years of age are released from their very strict world to experience all the pleasures and freedoms of the outside "English" world. This tumultuous time is called 'rumspringa', these young people during this time must decide to return to the ways of their parents and the Amish or stay on the outside. The focus of this documentary follows several teens as they experience "hoedowns' and "barnhops", delving into drugs, sex, malls and rock 'n' roll. Rumspringa may last from months to years.

curtis martin The Devil's Playground wasn't half as entertaining or informative as it should have been, given the great concept. Though it was interesting in parts,I often found it slow and repetitive. The music, a mixture of typical docu-muzak and technohouse, hypnotized me into boredom. But worst of all, several of the scenes were obviously staged, recreated, and/or written for the kids who were being filmed. And the girl the drug dealer ends up with in the end could NOT have been Amish. There are no exotic, dark-haired, olive-skinned Amish women. There just aren't--ARE NOT. PERIOD. And even if there were, they wouldn't be reading their lines off of cue cards like this girl obviously was. Could have been a lot better.

libbyspears Contains Spoilers... in fact, not just the best documentary i have ever seen, but one of the best movies i've ever seen. Maybe THE best movie I've ever seen. It cuts through all prejudice and cliche to the human heart of the story, and it's the most compelling narrative story you'll ever find - but this masterpiece is constructed out of the plain documentary truth about a bunch of teenagers. I'm haunted by these kids, and by the power of the images. Try to see it on a big screen because the shots are unbelievable. The beauty and simplicity - and austerity - of Amish life. Forget Witness, now you can see it for real for the first time - I don't think anybody filmed Amish people ever before, and this film is only Amish people. And then there are the scenes of crazy sex drugs and hiphop... with Amish kids!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have you ever see Amish girls in traditional white bonnets and frilly dresses double-fisting Coors Lights and screaming for more more more at an Amish hoedown? You'll see why they say that "Amish kids got the best parties" - and don't tell me you knew that already. You couldn't make this stuff up. I wouldn't buy it in a fiction movie. I don't know how Amish people who have never before let themselves be filmed let this filmmaker film them doing things that they would most want to hide... it's some feat. It's not just the shocking revelation that Amish kids are kids too and have problems, it's that these kids have such an incredibly tough decision (to be or not to be Amish) at such a dramatic age, and they see the world through such unique bifocal lenses (Amish and "English") - and the film lets us FEEL that with them. I wanted to invite all of the featured characters over to my house - they each have such a heart-breaking story with so many ups and downs and twists and turns. It's wild that a film lets you be totally sympathetic with a drug dealer, not least a drug dealer who turns out to be a narcotics informer - the person you would LEAST expect to EVER sympathize with. A narc dealer should be hated by about everybody alive. But this kid is mesmerizing. I lost count of how many times a shiver went down my spine. There but for the grace of god go I. My only complaint is that I wanted it to be longer and that I can't wait for them to make a follow-up.

Yaniv Eidelstein this film is based around a fascinating subject; the amish custom of allowing every boy or girl who turns sixteen to do anything he or she pleases, no holds barred. apparently, the amish believe it is wrong to baptise infants, and that they're supposed to choose the amish way as free-thinking adults.the opening titles explaining this raised my expectations, as did the movie poster: an image of a girl in an amish bonnet, sitting in the back seat of a car, lighting a cigarette. it felt like a stolen moment; like an exciting departure from everything she's been taught. what would teens like this do, give free rein for the first time in their lives? what would it feel like to taste the things that were always off limits?well according to this movie, amish teenagers are just as debauched as anyone in western society; they have no qualms about doing anything at all; nothing seems exciting or new to them. they're just relieved that their nuisance parents are out of the way so that they can finally get on with their partying, driving and drugging.and how do the parents feel about allowing their children to turn their backs on every value they ever taught them? that would be a challenging concept to any parent, let alone one in a supposedly closed, puritanical society. well, we'll never know, as the amish refuse to be filmed or photographed.stripped of all the interesting questions, this remains a slick docu-soap in the mtv "real world" tradition, with no insights to offer; just a peek into the lives of a few amish teens, who may or may not be examples of anything larger than themselves.