"DEBT BEGINS AT TWENTY, by combining semi-fictionalized and documentary material, is as definitive a record of the Pittsburgh punk scene during its nascent underground phase as anyone could possibly hope for. That it also succeeds as an extremely engaging character study of some of the movement's most colorful figures is a testament to Stephanie Beroes' facility for combining a series of 'miniatures' with empathy as well as to the unusually natural character of the participants in what elsewhere has been an excruciatingly arch subculture." - W.T. Koltek, WYEP-Radio, Pittsburgh

"An 'AKG mike' is indicated, Dick Tracy-like, with an arrow in one subtitle over a shot that allegedly shows us (Bill) Bored sitting alone; and when Sesame Spinelli, a vocalist with the Dykes, looks up the hero in the final sequence (preceded by the title 'Six Months Earlier') and winds up making love with him to a joyfully gyrating camera, the self-conscious acting and embarrassed, banal dialogue between them is happily lingered over. DEBT BEGINS AT TWENTY provides as much honest fun as a day on the beach." - Jonathan Rosenbaum, The Soho Weekly News