"A touching portrait of [Wray's] tumultuous relationship with her mentally unstable mother; never self-indulgent, the film shows Wray unabashedly exhibiting her frustration with and love for her mother, in the process creating a story about self-healing and moving on that many will relate to." 

— Filmmaker Magazine, Fall 2008

"[an] evocative personal documentary...that unfolds with increasing resonance; a poetic, universal journey." 

— Utne Reader, November-December 2008

"Painfully intimate, Manhattan, Kansas plumbs a contentious mother-daughter relationship, showing a family's journey from estrangement to reconciliation and posing lingering questions about the line between mental illness and unconventionality. It's an honest look about growing up and letting go... it's everything a personal documentary should be." 

— Marrit Ingman, The Austin Chronicle

"Manhattan, Kansas is extremely emotional; it will make you question your own relationship with your mother, because there is no such thing as a "normal" relationship. The film has its moments where you will tear up, and Tara's expression of emotion will have you pulling for her and her pursuit for a happy family." 

— Elizabeth Stannard Gromisch, Feminist Review