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Poster for The Backyard

The Backyard

2002 · 1h 20m · Unrated Documentary
Directed by Paul Hough

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Overview

Lightbulbs, fire, barbed wire, mousetraps, staple guns, thumbtacks and glass are weapons of choice in The Backyard. This undercover documentary takes you deep into the controversial arena of backyard wrestling where the limits are constantly being tested...and broken. The Backyard follows several backyard wrestlers in different countries as they pursue their dream to become professional wrestlers.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
72%
Tomatometer
Fresh

Tawdriness aside, The Backyard is remarkable for the intensity of the interviewees, who show a new kind of all-American gumption in the way they filter the mannerisms of low-rung celebrities through their own geeked-out, violent imaginations.

Noel Murray, AV Club
Fresh

Those who've wondered whether TV's WWF show wrestling might have a detrimental effect on impressionable youth will gloat over The Backyard.

Dennis Harvey, Variety
Fresh

Warped entertainment? Yes. Sophisticated? No. And that goes for the movie as well as for the participants.

Janice Page, Boston Globe
Fresh

Yes, it's hard to watch, but, like a train wreck, it's also hard not to.

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post
Rotten

What is going on here? Most would say a lot of incredibly dangerous and stupid activity, and most of the people in this documentary not surprisingly seem none too bright.

Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times

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