68
Metascore
16 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100TV Guide MagazineKen FoxTV Guide MagazineKen FoxWu is able to demonstrate both the timelessness and the universality of stories which, on the surface, sound extreme and unique.
- 83Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumEntertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumIf all this sounds awfully classroom-bound, it isn't -- far from it. Each man's story as he tells it is riveting, truly stranger than fiction, and awesome, too, in the way of unfathomable humans.
- The film becomes at once an argument for the accuracy of fictional conventions and for the power of true, personal experiences.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenThe Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenAlthough it takes a while for Yu's thesis to jell, the film makes a lasting impression as it delves into an unfashionable territory: character as fate rather than a function of pharmaceuticals.
- 80VarietyVarietyThe dangers of extremism and the virtues of uncertainty are the keys to the remarkable Protagonist, docu helmer Jessica Yu's exploration of four men's journey through dysfunction, obsession and redemption.
- 80SalonAndrew O'HehirSalonAndrew O'HehirA highly original and at times thrilling use of the documentary medium, and one of the most revealing films about the troubled nature of contemporary manhood I've ever seen.
- 70Village VoiceVillage VoiceYu's rousing, difficult-to-classify exercise in parallel storytelling is surprisingly accessible, and all the more insightful for it.
- 70The New York TimesStephen HoldenThe New York TimesStephen HoldenJessica Yu’s enthralling documentary exploration of people with obsessive needs for control and self-mastery.
- 67The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe A.V. ClubNoel MurrayOffers four fairly interesting monologues, undercut by ominous music, stylistic frippery, and a structure that all but guarantees the audience will be able to predict where the stories will go.
- 63New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanNew York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanWhile Yu's experimental approach brings valuable insight to the human condition, the interviews themselves too rarely measure up to her ambitious structure.