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Poster for The Lottery

The Lottery

You could win an education

2010 · 1h 21m · N/A Documentary, Thriller
Directed by Madeleine Sackler

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Overview

Four children enter a high-stakes lottery. If they win, they can attend one of the best schools in New York. A look at the crisis in public education, The Lottery makes the case than any child can succeed.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
62%
Tomatometer
Fresh

You look at all these beautiful kids, with all the potential in the world, and every expectation for a great life, and you know that at most one-sixth of them will come out of the room with a fighting chance. That shouldn't be.

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
Fresh

The film takes an effective, two-pronged approach to tell its enlightening tale.

Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times
Rotten

Though infinitely classier -- and easier on the eyes -- than Cartel, the recent documentary exploring public education, this latest charter-school commercial is no less one-sided.

Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times
Rotten

Charter schools, good or bad? That's the question raised by director Madeleine Sackler's timely but standard documentary The Lottery.

V.A. Musetto, New York Post
Rotten

Advocacy to the point of propaganda.

John Anderson, Variety

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