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A Hidden Life

2019

Terrence Malick

August Diehl, Matthias Schoenaerts, Valerie Pachner, Michael Nyqvist ...

6.8

3,968

Drama. Romance. War Austrian farmer Franz Jägerstätter, a conscientious objector, refuses to fight for the Nazis in World War II.

	Author	Review
United States	Justin Chang Los Angeles Times	"[It] is both an intense portrait of Christian devotion in practice and a damning study in how religious institutions, among others, can align themselves with evil (...) [An] imperfect, wise and entirely heroic movie."	POS
United States	Peter Debruge Variety	"Back in Cannes with his best film since 'The Tree of Life,' Terrence Malick poses tough questions about personal faith in a world gone astray in this epic return to form [It] feels stunningly relevant"	POS
United Kingdom	Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"A high-minded hymn to modern saint that never quite comes to life (...) The style that Malick has found for this subject is very much the same as ever (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"	NEU
United States	David Ehrlich IndieWire	"After seven long years of wandering in the desert (...) Terrence Malick has finally rediscovered his conviction and returned to solid ground (...) 'A Hidden Life' is a lucid and profoundly defiant portrait of faith in crisis."	POS
United Kingdom	Tim Robey Telegraph	"Terrence Malick’s best picture in years (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Todd McCarthy The Hollywood Reporter	"Even with potentially deeper material, Malick is still making all the same moves, while neither varying them or amplifying what might lie beneath."	NEG
United States	Steve Pond The Wrap	"The director’s most monumental work since 'The Tree of Life' (...) It’s frustrating at times but beautiful far more often, a substantial addition to a singular filmography."	POS
United States	Charles Bramesco The Playlist	"This is art of salvation (...) Those prone to prostrate before high priest Malick will be rewarded for their devout allegiance to his filmography. We are all of us, blest."	POS
United States	Alex Billington First Showing	"It's mostly just another rehash of his visual style (…) That's not to say it isn't lovely to see (…) But all of this gorgeousness is established fairly quickly, and the story plays out over three very long hours."	NEU
United Kingdom	Tim Grierson Screendaily	"[Malick] attacks his usual themes from a rewardingly timely and urgent perspective."	POS
	Kaleem Aftab Cineuropa	"Religious conviction becomes such a virtue, but it’s a powerful force here, especially as Malick’s aesthetic and pacing demand that the world slow down and find time for contemplation in the church of cinema"	POS
United States	Gregory Ellwood Collider	"Malick is so aimless in his filmmaking he ends up repeating the same point again and again and again (...) It often makes the film a slog to sit through no matter how pretty those Austrian Alps in the background are."	NEG
United States	Peter Travers Rolling Stone	"Unfortunately, the director now seems genetically unable to tell a straight-ahead story, even a substantial one (...) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"	NEU
United Kingdom	Clarisse Loughrey The Independent	"How does someone retain their innocence in an inescapably dark time? It’s a painful question, but Malick’s film is brave enough to ask it (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United Kingdom	Charlotte O'Sullivan London Evening Standard	"Over the course of its three-hour running time, I was bored to yawns as often as I was moved to tears (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"	NEU
United Kingdom	Ed Potton The Times	"Beauty, bravery, but (whisper it) it’s boring (...) Visually opulent but threadbare in terms of character (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 5)"	NEU
Ireland	Donald Clarke Irish Times	"[It] impresses even as viewers’ patience is tested (...) The Malick aesthetic is sometimes infuriating, but we’ll miss it when it’s gone (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
Ireland	Stacy Grouden entertainment.ie	"An important, brooding meditation on personal good versus societal evil, Terrence Malick beautifully illuminates 'A Hidden Life' in his characteristically sublime style (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
Ireland	John Byrne RTÉ	"'A Hidden Life' looks fantastic, the acting is impressive - but as a slice of storytelling it's almost stubbornly protracted, and offers little insight into Jägerstätter's act of martyrdom (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"	NEU

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