45
Metascore
10 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80The New York TimesLisa KennedyThe New York TimesLisa KennedyIt is the siblings — their anguish and their anger, as well as the compassion they extend to one another — that drive the narrative.
- 75Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperChicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperDirector Lucie Jourdan paints a vividly disturbing picture of Cline, using his own words and actions against him, but wisely and compassionately makes Our Father as much about the victims as the infuriatingly evil Cline.
- 70SlashfilmSarah MilnerSlashfilmSarah MilnerFor how borderline cheesy the movie is on occasion, director Lucie Jourdan does an excellent job of emphasizing the heinous nature of the doctor's actions, while humanizing the patients and making the children's plight sympathetic.
- 50Chicago TribuneNina MetzChicago TribuneNina MetzAt the moment, far too many true crime documentaries function as little more than an episode of “Dateline.” They report information but lack analysis or even thoughtful ideas about how to use the medium of film to tell a story at once shocking and infuriating. Such is the case with Our Father on Netflix.
- 40Paste MagazineJacob OllerPaste MagazineJacob OllerOur Father’s failures aren’t in its lurid source material, but in its leering execution.
- 40CNNBrian LowryCNNBrian LowryThe sense of violation that this story entails is almost palpable, and "Our Father" certainly conveys that. If only the filmmakers had trusted the audience enough to present it in a more unadorned manner.
- 40Wall Street JournalJohn AndersonWall Street JournalJohn AndersonIt’s a deranged story, one that offers all kinds of opportunities for examining changes in the state of artificial insemination, medical ethics, the ways in which the human body has been opened up like an evidence locker, and the catchup that legislation has to play with technology.
- 25RogerEbert.comRobert DanielsRogerEbert.comRobert DanielsWhile what Cline did and the fight his victims took to find justice is a truth worth knowing and learning, Jourdan’s crass documentary isn’t the best vehicle for such weighty material.
- 25The PlaylistChristian GallichioThe PlaylistChristian GallichioWe never get a full sense of what these people went through after finding out that Cline was their biological father, mainly because Jourdan doesn’t seem particularly interested in unpacking these issues, or giving enough narrative space to explore the psychological toll.
- 20Less a balanced exposé than a tabloid scoop played for shocks, the film never even bothers to ask why any of this might have happened.