Shalini Kantayya’s TikTok, Boom. examines how that hugely popular platform—the most downloaded app ever—for makeup tutorials, skateboarding vids, lipsynching and other frivolities became a source of political controversies around the world.

| Oct 25, 2023

Such is the message of “TikTok, Boom”: You can run, but you can’t hide from the algorithms.

| Oct 21, 2022

If you only have a vague concept of TikTok as that thing kids use to post videos of themselves dancing, this essential documentary will leave you better informed -- and possibly alarmed.

| Sep 29, 2022

TikTok Boom has many valuable insights into the TikTok app, and the direction society and the social discourse are headed.

| Original Score: 7/10 | May 11, 2022

What happens once audiences disappear down the rabbit hole of this documentary will depend very much upon how old they are.

| Feb 18, 2022

If theres anything new to be gleaned from Tiktok, Boom by those who are already familiar with everything presented, its a confirmation that although there is much to do, indifference has not yet settled in.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Feb 13, 2022

While TikTok, Boom. might not be the most dynamic documentary, it is still a digestible film with substantial thoughts on the TikTok platform that are clearly worthwhile and important.

| Original Score: B | Feb 12, 2022

It is always difficult to take on a story when were in the middle of it, and TikTok, Boom. by no means plays as a definitive study of all the platforms harms.

| Original Score: C+ | Feb 8, 2022

A new documentary centered around TikToks vast cultural and global impact that focuses on a more inclusive group of influencers whose lives have changed through the app and who intersect with the political.

| Feb 7, 2022

A lively, handy TikTok primer. Yet there are ways in which it’s all too content to skitter along the surface of what TikTok is.

| Feb 5, 2022

A clearer through-line...may have laid better groundwork for the films interrogation of the platforms relationship to geopolitics, gendered abuse online, and censorship, but, on the whole, its an engaging and compelling film.

| Feb 5, 2022

Kantayya certainly covers the how and the why of all that but is mostly interested in the apps origin story and its future. Though I confess to not being a user, the movie feels comprehensive. Its also highly engaging.

| Feb 4, 2022

One can't help feel this is geared more toward outsiders than those who are already caught up in [TikTok's] attention beam and feeding into its algorithms.

| Feb 1, 2022

The problem with a documentary like "TikTok, Boom" is that its shelf life is as short as the app's. By the time this movie gets out to a general audience, it's quite possible that the next social-media platform will already be trying to replace it.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 30, 2022

Much less focused, and therefore considerably less successful. Jumps around to different subjects, to the point of distraction

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jan 29, 2022

You'll certainly come away from TikTok, Boom. with a lot of talking points, but you might not feel like you've actually gained a deeper understanding of the platform itself.

| Jan 28, 2022

The doc addresses widespread ideas and experiences around the app, mostly with a helpful journalistic remove that avoids either scolding or gushing. As a primer, it's effective and absorbing.

| Jan 28, 2022

Kantayya gathers about a dozen creators for her documentary, as well as about a dozen more talking head experts to put forth a pretty clear argument that TikTok is a terrible thing for our mental health, our personal data, even state secrets.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 27, 2022

TikTok, Boom. raises many pressing concerns about the power of TikTok and its lack of accountability.

| Jan 27, 2022

offers critical analysis on TikTok... but ignores the many nuances of the app. TikTok, Boom. is underwhelming.

| Jan 25, 2022