Some modern critics like the movie, some do not. Paul Brenner has written, "Many of Griffith's features suffer from sententious moralizing, a sense of God speaking to the masses, and outright racism. But "Way Down East" highlights the greatness of Griffith without having to sit through the Sermon on the Mount or the Ride of The Klan. In "Way Down East", Griffith's psychotic nuttiness, for once, didn't get in the way of a good [movie]."