73
Metascore
24 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 85MovielineStephanie ZacharekMovielineStephanie ZacharekIt's the kind of movie that makes the world feel like a smaller place, suggesting that the similarities connecting us across continents and cultures are more resonant than the things that divide us.
- 83Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumEntertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumThis gripping if tamped-down drama is steeped in ancient Albanian culture, where the real, tragic consequences of blood feuds can keep families trapped in their homes for generations.
- 80Village VoiceErnest HardyVillage VoiceErnest HardyMarston nails the claustrophobia of small-town life and the turbulent emotionalism of teenagers, but what pushes the film toward sublimity is the way he delicately captures all of the characters' inner lives as their world slowly crumbles.
- 80New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanNew York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanThere is so much to admire in Joshua Marston's The Forgiveness of Blood that it's easy to overlook the miracle at its center: Marston's artistic idealism.
- 70New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinNew York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein[A] compelling film touching on the perils of being young - that's it, merely young - in a culture without justice.
- 67The A.V. ClubScott TobiasThe A.V. ClubScott TobiasJust as Marston's scrupulous attention to local custom and devotion to social realism recall the work of John Sayles (Lone Star), his occasionally enervating style also recalls Sayles at his worst.
- 60Time OutJoshua RothkopfTime OutJoshua RothkopfNo matter how sincere, Marston's effort also suffers from the lack of a burning lead as he had in Maria's Catalina Sandino Moreno. Fierce acting is a virtue you don't have to travel the world to find - or to lose sight of.
- 50Slant MagazineAndrew SchenkerSlant MagazineAndrew SchenkerThe film wisely avoids giving its material a large-scale epic quality it can't sustain, but it also results in a project that lacks the complexity to register as more than a handsome little sketch.
- 50The New York TimesManohla DargisThe New York TimesManohla DargisFrustratingly, though, perhaps because he is an outsider and was concerned about appearing biased about another culture, about all that Mr. Marston does is chew on this clash, as if the repeated images of teenagers talking on cellphones next to a horse-drawn cart were a substitute for a strong filmmaking point of view.