82
Metascore
14 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 91IndieWireCarlos AguilarIndieWireCarlos AguilarWhile the stirring visual fluidity of “The Unknown Country,” her first fiction feature and a kindhearted triumph, provides further arguments pointing to Malick likely being an influence, what distinguishes Maltz’s approximation to that style of evocatively loose filmmaking is that it’s grounded on the personal victories of real individuals. Based on that, she forges eclectic narrative devices for a tone poem with substantial dramatic meat on its bones.
- 91ColliderChase HutchinsonColliderChase HutchinsonEven in the moments where it can feel a little rough around the edges, the portrait being painted is a breathtaking and unrestrained one. It all comes together to ensure that, in the long cinematic history of American road movies, The Unknown Country carves out an indelible legacy of its own all the way to its final series of shattering shots.
- 91The PlaylistChristian GallichioThe PlaylistChristian GallichioGladstone manages to sell every emotion, moving from despair to wonder as the journey continues.
- 88RogerEbert.comSheila O'MalleyRogerEbert.comSheila O'MalleyYou don't watch the movie. You experience it through your senses.
- 80We Got This CoveredMartin CarrWe Got This CoveredMartin CarrThe Unknown Country proves to be a road trip unlike any other.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenThe Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenThe quiet but stirring effect is a dreamscape of eye-opening geography, existential longing and the enduring workaday.
- 80Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleLos Angeles TimesRobert AbeleSometimes, The Unknown Country may be more a feeling than a movie, but that’s more than satisfactory. Attentive and artful, Maltz is a talent to watch, and in Gladstone, she’s fortunate enough to have a star (and guide) whose presence binds us to all this soulful roaming.
- 75Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger MooreGladstone carries the picture as a reactor — to the stories she hears from this waitress, that grandfatherly distant relative, the bride-to-be. But even those reactions are subdued.
- 70The New York TimesLisa KennedyThe New York TimesLisa KennedyThe film’s gentle detours into the real-life stories remind us that it is the people met on the road that so often make the trip memorable.