The subject matter was great and it was handled pretty well over all; yet, I felt that more could’ve been done with such an interesting topic. The film highlights the extreme cases (meth, alcohol, sex), but brushes aside those who maybe indulge themselves by doing little more than watching tv and going to the mall. Some Amish kids, if not the majority, are much more conservative in their rumspringa than this film likes to portray. The footage was great, especially being how difficult it is to get cameras into an Amish community, but some of the added effects and all of the music was irritating and unneccessary.

Devil’s Playground borders on being worth consuming because it is interesting, but because it could’ve been done so much better, I wouldn’t recommend it to any but those who are already interested in the subect matter.

This movie really opened my eyes. I found it amazingly powerful, insightful and succinct. If you like documentaries, I think you’ll like this. I only wished I had seen it with other people so that I could discuss it afterwards, because it really got my mind going.

This documentary really opened my eyes at how normal the Amish are. I never knew that Amish teens go be so bad during their “rumspringa”, when they get to try out going into the mainstream to see if they want to be Amish.

while the subject matter was definitely interesting, the documentary itself could have been better. i could have done without the gratuitous use of slow-motion effects and music to pull the emotional strings and add dramatic effect. but the makers did get some neat footage. just seemed like maybe the first documentary these people have made. then again, maybe i was just in an extra critical mood when i watched this…

Talk about a change of lifestyle. When Amish kids turn 16 they are released from the rules of their church to basically “run around.” The Amish faith believes that children raised Amish shouldn’t have to decide if they want to be baptized Amish until they’ve gone through this rite of passage, which may last months or years.

The problem evident in this documentary is that these kids go from one extreme to the other and many don’t know how to handle it. One kid becomes a meth head and drug dealer. Many others just change their images (men more than women), get a car and party till they puke. It’s hard for them not to considering many of the parties they attend are held on their parents’ properties (with parents present), where they host up to 1,500 Amish kids from all over the country—all just looking to get loaded.

Many years ago rumspringa may not have had the same impact… in the 21st century it’s a different story. Surprisingly still the Amish have a 90% retention rate. Many of these kids do become baptized even after going through hell to get there.