The film is about non-violent demonstrations conducted by the residents of Budrus (a Palestinian town in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate) during the early 2000s to protest against the building of the Israeli West Bank barrier inside of the village.

[5] Jordana Horn in The Jewish Daily Forward states that: In 2004, The Nation reported that if the planned construction of the Israeli West Bank barrier continued along its designated course, "the 1,200 residents of Budrus—the vast majority of whom depend on agriculture for work—will lose a large portion of their fields.

According to the official map released by Israel's Defense Ministry, the proposed route of the separation barrier will not only pass through this patch of land but will also loop around to encircle Budrus and eight nearby villages, creating a closed enclave with a population of 25,000.

"[10] In a 2010 interview with The Jewish News Weekly of Northern California, Budrus producer Ronit Avni stated that the film was made in response to questions concerning the existence of Palestinian non-violence movements.

"[20] Tom Huddleston of TimeOut London gave it four out of five stars and argues that, "In refusing to romanticise the villagers or demonise their aggressors, she presents a stark and wholly believable portrait of the Middle East conflict in microcosm, while her welcome focus on character over political point-scoring gives Budrus a weighty emotional kick.

"[29] Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave Budrus three and a half stars referring to it as "Julia Bacha's fine, humane documentary" that "makes you believe people can get things done, if they think in terms of coalitions and principles and methods other than brute force.

"[30] Mike Hale of The New York Times called Budrus an "engrossing and sometimes inspiring" film and stated that it is, "Eyes on the Prize with olive trees.

"[33] Chuck Bowen of Slant Magazine gave the film two and half out of four stars arguing that, "Budrus is passionately, more-than-competently made, but it's a civics lesson that doesn't quite shake you to your core.

"[34] Nick Schager of Time Out New York gave the film two out of five stars and argued that, "documentaries warrant viewpoints, but they should also provide perspective on more than one side of a contentious issue.