55
Metascore
6 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawIthaka shows us how time and experience have lent perspective to it all, affectingly focusing on Assange’s elderly father John Shipton, and Assange’s fiancee Stella Moris (now his wife), who have doggedly fought for Assange’s rights as an investigative journalist and publisher.
- 67Original-CinLiam LaceyOriginal-CinLiam LaceyYou won’t find much ambiguity on these subjects in the documentary Ithaka, directed by Ben Lawrence and produced by Assange’s half-brother, Gabriel Shipton. Unsurprisingly, it’s totally Team Julian.
- 60Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleLos Angeles TimesRobert AbeleIthaka isn’t as effective an advocacy doc as it could be, sometimes feeling trapped between wanting to intellectualize with onscreen text and contextualized history and looking for observational moments that crystallize the pain and concern for the Assange family.
- 50VarietyOwen GleibermanVarietyOwen GleibermanLaura Poitras’s 2017 documentary “Risk” was a close-up portrait of Assange, shot during his early years of infamy and as fascinating, in a squirmy way, as Assange himself. “Ithaka” is less about the man than the cause — how the continued prosecution of Assange fits into the issue of free speech. It’s a more morally clean-cut watch. But it’s a lot less dramatic.
- 30The New York TimesAmy NicholsonThe New York TimesAmy NicholsonThe documentary repeats three monotonous points: Journalists lie. Regardless, Assange is a journalist who deserves protection. Also, his family misses him a heck of a lot.