„Though made on a comparatively modest budget, Patty Hearst is a beautifully produced movie, seen entirely from Patty's limited point of view. It is stylized at times, utterly direct and both shocking and grimly funny.“ – Rezension in The New York Times vom 23. September 1988, abgerufen am 1. Dezember 2011.
rogerebert.com
„[…] a brooding and pale film, an introspective one that seems determined not to exploit the sensationalism of the case. […] The entire film centers on the remarkable performance by Natasha Richardson as Hearst.“ – Rezension in der Chicago Sun-Times vom 23. September 1988, abgerufen am 1. Dezember 2011.
washingtonpost.com
„In Patty Hearst, Schrader combines B-movie effects with art-house tactics; it's both sleazy and hoity-toity. […] It's early on in Patty's reorientation that we sense Schrader's distaste for his own protagonist, […] his inability to discover comradely feeling toward any of his subjects […] it maintains a safe distance from any definitive position. In the end, we have not come any closer to an understanding of Patty Hearst. But ambiguity, in this case, isn't an indication of complexity; it's a refuge. It's an admission of failure.“ – Rezension in The Washington Post vom 23. September 1988, abgerufen am 1. Dezember 2011.
